Metabolism of sumatriptan revisited

• Published in: Pharmacology research & perspectives Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. e01051 - n/a
• Main Authors: Pöstges, Timo, Lehr, Matthias
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.02.2023; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Acids; Cytochrome; Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A2 - metabolism; Cytochrome P-450 CYP2D6 - metabolism; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - genetics; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - metabolism; cytochrome P450; Enzymes; Gas flow; Humans; Metabolism; Metabolites; Microsomes, Liver - metabolism; monoamine oxidase; Monoamine Oxidase - metabolism; Original; Pharmacology; Sensors; Solvents; sumatriptan; Sumatriptan - metabolism; Sumatriptan - pharmacology; zolmitriptan; Germany; metabolism; cytochrome P450; zolmitriptan; monoamine oxidase; sumatriptan
• ISSN: 2052-1707; 2052-1707
• DOI: 10.1002/prp2.1051

Scientific literature describes that sumatriptan is metabolized by oxidative deamination of its dimethylaminoethyl residue by monoamine oxidase A (MAO A) and not by cytochrome P450 (CYP)‐mediated demethylation, as is usual for such structural elements. Using recombinant human enzymes and HPLC‐MS analysis, we found that CYP enzymes may also be involved in the metabolism of sumatriptan. The CYP1A2, CYP2C19, and CYP2D6 isoforms converted this drug into N‐desmethyl sumatriptan, which was further demethylated to N,N‐didesmethyl sumatriptan by CYP1A2 and CYP2D6. Otherwise, sumatriptan and its two desmethyl metabolites were metabolized by recombinant MAO A but not by MAO B to the corresponding acetaldehyde, with sumatriptan being only a poor substrate for MAO A compared to the N‐demethylated and the N,N‐didemethylated derivatives. Proposed metabolic pathway of sumatriptan.