The metabolic profile of azimilide in man: in vivo and in vitro evaluations.

The metabolic fate of azimilide in man is unusual as it undergoes a cleavage in vivo resulting in the formation of two classes of structurally distinct metabolites. During a metabolite profiling study conducted in human volunteers to assess the contribution of all pathways to the clearance of (14)C-azimilide, greater than 82% of radioactivity was recovered in urine (49%-58%) and feces (33%). Urine, feces, and plasma were profiled for metabolites. A cleaved metabolite, 4-chloro-2-phenyl furoic acid was present at high concentration in plasma (metabolite/parent AUC ratio approx. 4), while other plasma metabolites, azimilide N-oxide (metabolite/parent AUC ratio 0.001), and a cleaved hydantoin metabolite (metabolite/parent AUC ratio = 0.3) were present at lower concentrations than azimilide. In urine, the cleaved metabolites were the major metabolites, (> 35% of the dose) along with phenols (as conjugates, 7%-8%), azimilide N-oxide (4%-10%), a butanoic acid metabolite (2%-3%), and desmethyl azimilide (2%). A limited investigation of fecal metabolites indicated that azimilide (3%-5%), desmethyl azimilide (1%-3%), and the butanoic acid metabolite (< 1%) were present. Contributing pathways for metabolism of azimilide, identified through in vitro and in-vivo studies, were CYPs 1A1 (est. 28%), 3A4/5 (est. 20%), 2D6 (< 1%), FMO (est. 14%), and cleavage (35%). Enzyme(s) involved in the cleavage of azimilide were not identified.