Abstract

Transdermal fentanyl is widely used to control pain in cancer patients. The high pharmacokinetic variability of fentanyl is assumed to be due to cytochrome P450 3A-mediated (CYP3A) N-dealkylation to norfentanyl in humans. However, recently published clinical studies question the importance of the described metabolic pathway. In this small study in palliative cancer patients under real-life clinical conditions, the influence of CYP3A on fentanyl variability was investigated. In addition to the determination of midazolam plasma concentration to reveal CYP3A activity, plasma concentrations of fentanyl and its metabolite, norfentanyl, were measured in identical blood samples of 20 patients who participated in an ongoing trial and had been on transdermal fentanyl. Fentanyl, norfentanyl, midazolam, and 1′-OH-midazolam were quantified by liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. Plasma concentrations of fentanyl and norfentanyl exhibited a large variability. Mean estimated total clearance of fentanyl and mean metabolic clearance of midazolam (as a marker of CYP3A activity) were 75.5 and 36.3 L/h. Both clearances showed a weak correlation and hence a minimal influence of CYP3A on fentanyl elimination.

Details

Title
Minor contribution of cytochrome P450 3A activity on fentanyl exposure in palliative care cancer patients
Author
Geist, Marcus J P 1 ; Ziesenitz, Victoria C 2 ; Bardenheuer, Hubert J 3 ; Burhenne, Juergen 4 ; Skopp, Gisela 5 ; Mikus, Gerd 4 

 Department of Anesthesiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany; Palliative-Care-Team Leuchtturm, Groß-Gerau, Germany 
 Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacoepidemiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany; Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany 
 Department of Anesthesiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany 
 Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacoepidemiology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany 
 Forensic Toxicological Center, Munich, Germany 
Pages
1-6
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Oct 2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2303724398
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.