title: Synthesis and characterization of some new phase II metabolites of the alkylator bendamustine and their identification in human bile, urine, and plasma from patients with cholangiocarcinoma.
abstract: The alkylating agent bendamustine is currently in phase III clinical trials for the treatment of hematological malignancies and breast, lung, and gastrointestinal tumors. Renal elimination mainly as the parent compound is thought to be the primary route of excretion. Because polar biliary conjugates were expected metabolites of bendamustine, three cysteine S-conjugates were synthesized, purified by quantitative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and characterized by NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (MS). HPLC assays with MS, as well as fluorescence detection of bile, urine, and plasma after single-dose intravenous infusion of 140 mg/m(2) bendamustine in five subjects with cholangiocarcinoma, indicated the existence of these phase II metabolites, which were identified as cysteine S-conjugates by comparison with the previously characterized synthetic reference standards. The sum of the three cysteine S-conjugates of bendamustine was determined in human bile and urine to be 95.8 and 26.0%, respectively, expressed as mean percentage of the sum of the parent compound and identified metabolites. The percentage of administered dose recovered in urine as cysteine S-conjugates ranged from 0.9 to 4.1%, whereas the total percentage of the administered dose excreted in urine as the parent drug and seven metabolites ranged from 3.8 to 16.3%. The identification of cysteine S-conjugates provide evidence that a major route of bendamustine metabolism in humans involves conjugation with glutathione. Results indicate the importance of phase II conjugation in the elimination of bendamustine, besides phase I metabolism and hydrolytic degradation, and require further investigation.
authors.affiliation: University of Leipzig, Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Haertelstr. 16-18, 04107 Leipzig, Germany. Jens.Teichert@medizin.uni-leipzig.de
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Teichert
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sohr
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Baumann
authors.forename: Lothar
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hennig
authors.forename: Karlheinz
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Merkle
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Caca
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Preiss
mesh_terms: D000069461:Bendamustine Hydrochloride; D001646:Bile / Q000378:metabolism*; D018281:Cholangiocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006801:Humans; D009588:Nitrogen Mustard Compounds / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000652:urine; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
chemical_list: D009588:Nitrogen Mustard Compounds; D000069461:Bendamustine Hydrochloride