The Ontogeny of Cytochrome P450 Enzyme Activity and Protein Abundance in Conventional Pigs in Support of Preclinical Pediatric Drug Research

Since the implementation of several legislations to improve pediatric drug research, more pediatric clinical trials are being performed. In order to optimize these pediatric trials, adequate preclinical data are necessary, which are usually obtained by juvenile animal models. The growing piglet has been increasingly suggested as a potential animal model due to a high degree of anatomical and physiological similarities with humans. However, physiological data in pigs on the ontogeny of major organs involved in absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs are largely lacking. The aim of this study was to unravel the ontogeny of porcine hepatic drug metabolizing cytochrome P450 enzyme (CYP450) activities as well as protein abundances. Liver microsomes from 16 conventional pigs (8 males and 8 females) per age group: 2 days, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 6–7 months were prepared. Activity measurements were performed with substrates of major human CYP450 enzymes: midazolam (CYP3A), tolbutamide (CYP2C), and chlorzoxazone (CYP2E). Next, the hepatic scaling factor, microsomal protein per gram liver (MPPGL), was determined to correct for enzyme losses during the fractionation process. Finally, protein abundance was determined using proteomics and correlated with enzyme activity. No significant sex differences within each age category were observed in enzyme activity or MPPGL. The biotransformation rate of all three substrates increased with age, comparable with human maturation of CYP450 enzymes. The MPPGL decreased from birth till 8 weeks of age followed by an increase till 6–7 months of age. Significant sex differences in protein abundance were observed for CYP1A2, CYP2A19, CYP3A22, CYP4V2, CYP2C36, CYP2E_1, and CYP2E_2. Midazolam and tolbutamide are considered good substrates to evaluate porcine CYP3A/2C enzymes, respectively. However, chlorzoxazone is not advised to evaluate porcine CYP2E enzyme activity. The increase in biotransformation rate with age can be attributed to an increase in absolute amount of CYP450 proteins. Finally, developmental changes were observed regarding the involvement of specific CYP450 enzymes in the biotransformation of the different substrates.