Investigations on the in vitro metabolism of five synthetic 19-norprogestins using hepatocyte suspensions isolated from five laboratory animal species.

Five synthetic progestins of the 19-nortestosterone type (norethisterone, NET; levonorgestrel, LN; gestodene, GEST; NET-3-oxime, NETO; norgestimate, NGM) were investigated in the in vitro hepatocyte model. Radiolabelled progestins were added to hepatocyte suspensions (3 x 10(6) cells/ml) freshly prepared from female rat, guinea pig, rabbit, dog (beagle) and cynomolgus monkey. Drug level decreases (NET, LN, GEST) and prodrug conversions (NETO, NGM) were followed by radiochromatography (HPLC) for 60 min. In the case of NET and NETO the conversion into ethinyl estradiol (EE2) was quantified by RIA after HPLC separation. Half-lives of drug level decreases (t1/2), areas under the curves (AUC) and metabolic clearance rates (MCR) were estimated for all progestins. For NETO and NGM the percentages of conversion into NET and LN were calculated, respectively, and levels of EE2 determined in the case of NET and NETO. Rat hepatocytes showed an extremely high metabolic activity towards NET, LN and GEST resulting in t1/2 values of below 2 min. Respective values for rabbit hepatocytes ranged from 5-8 min, whereas half-lives calculated for liver cells from guinea pig, dog and monkey were generally above 30 min. A drastic increase in t1/2 was found for NETO (as compared to NET) in hepatocytes from rat, rabbit and monkey but not from guinea pig. Dog hepatocytes degraded NETO about 3 times more rapidly than NET. NGM was degraded much faster than LN in hepatocytes from all species except the rat. Liver cells from guinea pig and dog seem to be able to metabolize the 3-oxime group much more rapidly than hepatocytes from the other animal species. The lowest degree of prodrug conversion of 4% was observed for NGM and dog hepatocytes. Elevated EE2 levels were found in all experiments with NET and NETO. Results of NET, LN and GEST were compared with published in vivo experiments. No correlations were found for t1/2, MCR, and AUC.