Characterization of 1-Aminobenzotriazole and Ketoconazole as Novel Inhibitors of Monoamine Oxidase (MAO): An In Vitro Investigation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: 1-Aminobenzotriazole, a known time-dependent inhibitor of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes, and ketoconazole, a strong inhibitor of the human CYP3A4 isozyme, are used as standard probe inhibitors to characterize the CYP and/or non-CYP-mediated metabolism of xenobiotics. In the present investigation, 1-Aminobenzotriazole and ketoconazole are characterized as potent monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors in vitro using mouse, rat and human liver microsomes and S9 fractions.

METHODS: Inhibition potential of 1-aminobenzotriazole and ketoconazole was studied in mice, rat and human liver microsomes, S9 fractions, MAO-A and MAO-B expressed enzymes by monitoring the formation of 4-hydroxyquinoline (4-HQ) from kynuramine, a specific substrate of MAO by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Mechanism of MAO inhibition was studied by incubating varying concentration of kynuramine with mouse, rat and human S9 fractions at varying concentration of 1-aminobenzatriazole and ketoconazole and monitoring the formation of 4-HQ.

RESULTS: 1-aminobenzotriazole and ketoconazole inhibited both MAO isozymes (MAO-A and MAO-B) with more specificity towards MAO-B. Kynuramine substrate kinetics in mouse, rat and human S9 fractions with varying 1-aminobenzotriazole and ketoconazole concentrations showed decreased maximum rate (V max ) for 4-HQ formation without affecting the Michaelis-Menten constant (K m ). A non-competitive inhibition model was constructed and inhibition constants (K i ) for 1-aminobenzotriazole (7.87 ± 0.61, 8.61 ± 0.92, 65.2 ± 1.61 µM for mice, rat and humans, respectively) and ketoconazole (0.12 ± 0.01, 2.04 ± 0.08, 5.52 ± 0.47 µM for mice, rat and humans, respectively) were determined.

CONCLUSIONS: 1-Aminobenzotriazole and ketoconazole are characterized as non-competitive inhibitors of mice, rat and human MAO in vitro and the extent of their MAO inhibition potential is species specific. 1-Aminobenzotriazole or ketoconazole can be used as a probe inhibitor in vitro for screening the involvement of MAO-dependent metabolism of new chemical entities (NCE) in early drug discovery.