Formation of a Quaternary N-Glucuronide of Amitriptyline in Human Liver Microsomes

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Abstract
Amitriptyline N-glucuronide was isolated from urine of a patient treated with therapeutic doses of amitriptyline. The glucuronide was hydrolyzed by hot alkaline treatment and, to a lesser degree, by treatment with β-glucuronidase. A method for the direct measurement of amitriptyline glucuronide by HPLC was developed. Human liver microsomes were shown to glucuronidate amitriptyline in the presence of UDPGA, and the activity varied 7-fold among microsomes from 13 different human livers. The glucuronidation of amitriptyline was inhibited by p-nitrophenol but not by morphine. E-10-hydroxynortriptyline, a major metabolite of amitriptyline, had only a slight inhibitory effect on the glucuronidation of amitriptyline. No significant correlation was found between the glucuronidation of amitriptyline and that of E-10-hydroxynortriptyline in the microsomes studied.