Pharmacokinetic Differences in the Disposition of the Enantiomers of Venlafaxine and Its Metabolites in Sprague-Dawley and Dark Agouti Rats

• Venlafaxine is a frequently prescribed racemic antidepressant drug worldwide, consisting of two enantiomers that exhibit similar but not identical biological activity profiles. Venlafaxine is extensively metabolised by the cytochrome P450 (CYP) system. CYP2D6 is involved in the formation of O-desmethylvenlafaxine (Odm-venlafaxine) and CYP3A4 in the formation of Ndesmethylvenlafaxine (Ndm-venlafaxine). The female Dark Agouti and Sprague-Dawley rats are considered the animal counterparts of the human CYP2D6 poor and extensive metaboliser phenotypes, respectively. Since CYP2D6 seems to play a major role in the metabolism of venlafaxine, the aim of this work was to study possible differences in the pharmacokinetics of the enantiomers of venlafaxine and its metabolites in these two different rat strains. Following single administration of racemic venlafaxine (15 mg/kg) serum and brain samples were collected and the concentrations of the enantiomers of venlafaxine and its three major metabolites were determined using an enantioselective LC/MS/MS method. Higher serum and brain concentrations of venlafaxine were observed in Dark Agouti rats as compared to Sprague-Dawley rats (p=0.0002). In relation to the Odm-venlafaxine concentration, the Ndmvenlafaxine concentrations were much higher in Dark Agouti rats than in Sprague-Dawley rats (p<0.0001). The enantiomeric (S/R) venlafaxine ratios were almost two times higher in Dark Agouti rats than in Sprague-Dawley rats, which was observed in both serum and brain (p<0.0001). The present results give hints for possible differences in the pharmacokinetics of venlafaxine in human extensive and poor metaboliser CYP2D6 phenotype subjects.

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