1521-009X/41/2/256262$25.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1124/dmd.112.

050245
DRUG METABOLISM AND DISPOSITION Drug Metab Dispos 41:256262, February 2013
Copyright 2013 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

Special Section on PregnancyCommentary

Drug Metabolism and Transport During Pregnancy: How Does Drug

Disposition Change during Pregnancy and What Are the Mechanisms
that Cause Such Changes?
Nina Isoherranen and Kenneth E. Thummel
Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Received November 19, 2012; accepted December 6, 2012

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ABSTRACT
There is increasing evidence that pregnancy alters the function of Metabolism and Disposition, a series of articles is presented that
drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters in a gestational- address the predictability, mechanisms, and magnitude of changes
stage and tissue-specific manner. In vivo probe studies have shown in drug metabolism and transport processes during pregnancy. The
that the activity of several hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes, such articles highlight state-of-the-art approaches to studying mecha-
as CYP2D6 and CYP3A4, is increased during pregnancy, whereas nisms of changes in drug disposition during pregnancy, and illustrate
the activity of others, such as CYP1A2, is decreased. The activity of the use and integration of data from in vitro models, animal studies,
some renal transporters, including organic cation transporter and and human clinical studies. The findings presented show the complex
P-glycoprotein, also appears to be increased during pregnancy. inter-relationships between multiple regulators of drug metabolism
Although much has been learned, significant gaps still exist in our and transport genes, such as estrogens, progesterone, and growth
understanding of the spectrum of drug metabolism and transport hormone, and their effects on enzyme and transporter expression in
genes affected, gestational agedependent changes in the activity different tissues. The studies provide the impetus for a mechanism-
of encoded drug metabolizing and transporting processes, and the and evidence-based approach to optimally managing drug thera-
mechanisms of pregnancy-induced alterations. In this issue of Drug pies during pregnancy and improving treatment outcomes.

Introduction Mattison, 2011). Although it is not surprising that the pregnant state
Since the time of the thalidomide tragedy in the late 1950s, and cannot be represented simply by scalable changes in basic pharmaco-
before, there has been a strong reluctance to evaluate the disposition kinetic parameters (e.g., distribution volume and clearance) that take
and pharmacological response to drugs in pregnant women. Concerns into account altered physiology, only recently has the research
for the safety of the developing fetus and the mother were behind this community begun to illuminate some of the profound changes in the
de facto policy, resulting, over time, in a dearth of detailed knowledge biochemistry of drug metabolism and transport that occur during
and pronounced uncertainty about the pharmacokinetic (PK) and pregnancy. These studies demonstrate the fallacy of many prior
pharmacodynamic (PD) behavior of drugs in the pregnant woman. assumptions, and the need for expanded research efforts to ensure that
In the absence of evidence, clinicians have been left to treat their the pregnant woman is treated optimally when therapeutic intervention
pregnant patients empirically and take what guidance they can from is required. Importantly, as discussed later, there is also emerging
treatment recommendations for the nonpregnant woman and a basic evidence for modifications in gene regulation that lead to enhanced
understanding of physiologic and biochemical changes that occur and suppressed enzyme/transporter expression and catalytic function.
during pregnancy. In the United States, at least 64% of pregnant women take one or
Pregnancy is associated with many physiologic changes that can more drugs during their pregnancy that are not a vitamin or dietary
influence drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion, supplement, and approximately two-thirds of those drugs will never
such as an increase in gastric pH and reduction in intestinal motility, have been formally tested in pregnant women (Glover et al., 2003;
increased cardiac output, increased glomerular filtration rate, and re- Andrade et al., 2004). Information on drug disposition in pregnant
duced plasma albumin concentrations (Anderson, 2005; Feghali and women is essential for making rational, evidence-based decisions
about drug selection, what dose to use, how frequently to administer
This study was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health [Grant U10 the dose, and what level of monitoring is needed to ensure drug safety
HD047892]. and efficacy. A pregnant woman is no less likely to need treatment of
dx.doi.org/10.1124/dmd.112.050245. disease or emergency care than any other woman her age, particularly

ABBREVIATIONS: EM, extensive metabolizer; FDA, Food and Drug Administration; DMET, drug metabolism and transport; OCT, organic cation
transporter; P-gp, P-glycoprotein; P450, cytochrome P450; PBPK, physiologically based pharmacokinetic; PD, pharmacodynamic; PK,
pharmacokinetic; UGT, UDP glucuronosyltransferase.

256
 Pregnancy-Mediated Changes in Drug Disposition 257
when the untreated chronic (epilepsy, immune disorders, organ Another recently described example of altered drug pharmacokinet-
transplantation, psychiatric disorders, human immunodeficiency virus ics during pregnancy involves the immunosuppressant drug tacrolimus
infection) or acute (influenza, cancer) conditions can cause real harm (Zheng et al., 2012). In this case, the mean oral clearance of tacrolimus
to her and possibly the fetus (Little et al., 2009). Moreover, there are was found to be 39% higher during mid- and late pregnancy, com-
serious medical conditions that often emerge as a consequence of pared with postpartum, which could result in suboptimal blood levels
pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes, hypertension, and pre- without dose adjustment. Interestingly, the tacrolimus free fraction in
eclampsia that compel some form of therapeutic intervention, but still blood increased by 91% in the same patients as a consequence of
lack basic information about drug disposition and response to declining hematocrit and albumin concentrations, which, when accom-
optimally guide treatment decisions in the patient. panied by a 45% increase in tacrolimus dose to maintain total blood
A case in point involves the treatment of gestational diabetes. This concentrations, resulted in a doubling of the unbound drug concen-
is a condition that evolves during pregnancy for reasons that are not trations. Although it is unclear how patient therapy with tacrolimus
completely understood and, if left untreated, is clearly associated with should be managed during pregnancy (monitor the unbound or total
an increased risk of morbidity for the mother and newborn child drug concentrations), the marked changes that occur are sobering and
(Reece and Moore, 2012; Wendland et al., 2012). Until recently, illustrative of how physiologic and biochemical changes that occur
insulin was the only accepted treatment modality because of as- during pregnancy might profoundly affect drug disposition and
surances that the drug would not cross the placenta and directly expose response.
the fetus to its biologic actions, despite the fact that oral hypogly-
cemics would likely be superior in the management of the condition

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in the mother (Landon and Gabbe, 2011). To address this issue, Knowledge on Enzyme-Specific Changes during Pregnancy
National Institutes of Healthfunded programs, such as the multicenter Similar to drug-drug interaction studies, the ideal way to understand
Obstetrics-Fetal Pharmacology Research Unit, have been conducting and predict the changes observed in drug disposition during pregnancy
a series of investigations to characterize the disposition of drugs is to obtain sufficient data on probe substrate disposition during
commonly used in nonpregnant women with type II diabetes, such as gestation that will allow rational extrapolations of how the disposi-
glyburide and metformin, to identify the optimum treatment regimen tion of specific, clinically relevant drugs is altered during pregnancy
for glucose control. Some of the initial data from these investigations (Fig. 1). Such predictions will also allow prioritization of studies
demonstrate marked changes during pregnancy in the oral clearance conducted in pregnant women to drugs whose disposition is most
of these drugsa 100% increase for glyburide (Hebert et al., 2009) likely significantly affected by pregnancy. Probe substrate studies are,
and ;50% increase for metformin (Eyal et al., 2010)that appear to however, complicated by safety concerns about administering drugs to
be the result, in part, of increased metabolism (glyburide) or renal pregnant women in the absence of clear therapeutic benefit, and the
secretion (metformin). The exact molecular basis for these catalytic fact that pregnancy is associated with a plethora of physiologic
changes remains to be elucidated, but it is clear from PK-PD analysis changes that can affect probe disposition in an unpredictable or
of the data that control of hyperglycemia is often not optimal when uncharacterized manner. An approach that appears to be very useful
standard drug dosing regimens are used (Hebert et al., 2009). in addressing these issues is physiologically based pharmacokinetic

Fig. 1. Overview of the integration of in vitro

and in vivo data into understanding of drug
disposition during pregnancy. DMPK, drug
metabolism and pharmacokinetics.
258 Isoherranen and Thummel

(PBPK) modeling (Abduljalil et al., 2012; Gaohua et al., 2012; Ke Thus, the validity of the proguanil-to-cycloguanil ratio as a CYP2C19-
et al., 2012). PBPK modeling allows incorporation of physiologic specific marker is not clear, even though the increase in the parent-to-
changes together with changes in multiple enzymes into a model that metabolite ratio at a single time point was 3-fold between nonpregnant
is fitted to best describe the disposition of well characterized drugs. EMs and poor metabolizers. Interestingly, in vitro, cycloguanil for-
When data from multiple substrates are available, PBPK models can mation was inhibited by troleandomycin (CYP3A4 inhibitor) and
be used to globally validate the presumed changes in specific enzyme furafylline (CYP1A2 inhibitor) (Coller et al., 1999), suggesting that
activity. This has been done, for example, to model the increase in changes in these enzymes as well as in cycloguanil elimination during
CYP3A4 activity during pregnancy (Ke et al., 2012), and the results pregnancy may confound the use of the proguanil-to-cycloguanil ratio
have profound implications to the dosage determination and efficacy as a reliable CYP2C19 biomarker. Together, these analyses suggest
of many CYP3A4 substrates during pregnancy, including many of the that a more complete characterization of the extent of gestational
human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitors (Roustit et al., agedependent changes in CYP2C enzyme activities is needed.
2008). Thus, prior PBPK modeling may enhance the safety of probe The apparent change in CYP2D6 activity during pregnancy is of
studies and improve the interpretation of the resulting PK and PD special interest, considering the number of drugs that are CYP2D6
findings. substrates and the lack of induction of CYP2D6 by xenobiotics. A
Despite the considerable challenges in conducting mechanistically relatively early study with metoprolol, a well accepted CYP2D6
driven pharmacokinetic investigations in pregnant women, an in- probe, included five pregnant women who were not genotyped for
creasing number of studies have been conducted to characterize CYP2D6. The results of the study showed that oral clearance of the
cytochrome P450 (P450), transporter, and UDP glucuronosyltransfer- drug was increased approximately 4- to 6-fold (systemic clearance was

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ase (UGT) activity during pregnancy. Probe studies that measure 2597% lower postpartum than during pregnancy) (Hogstedt et al.,
P450 enzyme activity during pregnancy are summarized in Table 1. 1985). However, subsequent studies with other CYP2D6 substrates
The data in Table 1 were gathered using the U.S. Food and Drug have not demonstrated as impressive an increase in substrate clearance.
Administration (FDA) recommended list of sensitive markers of P450 For example, the urinary ratios of dextromethorphan to dextrorphan
enzymes (from the FDA draft guidance of drug-drug interaction decreased throughout gestation (Tracy et al., 2005), suggesting an
studies in 2012) and substrates with a narrow therapeutic index. approximately 2-fold increase in CYP2D6 activity. However, urinary
Although impressive, the table reveals significant gaps in our ratios depend on changes in renal clearance and alternative pathways
mechanistic understanding of how activities of all of the key drug- such as glucuronidation, and as such, interpretation of this quantitative
metabolizing P450 enzymes change during pregnancy, and of the time analysis is challenging. Clonidine oral clearance increases 2-fold during
course of changes in enzyme activity during gestation. For example, pregnancy with no change in clonidine renal clearance, suggesting that
data on the activity of CYP2C8 and CYP2C19 activity determined the metabolic clearance presumably mediated by CYP2D6 (Buchanan
using well characterized probes are lacking for any stage of pre- et al., 2009; Claessens et al., 2010) was increased during pregnancy.
gnancy. Knowledge of changes in CYP2C9 activity is based on altered Similarly, paroxetine clearance, likely mediated by CYP2D6, in-
phenytoin disposition during pregnancy, which may be confounded creased approximately 2-fold during gestation (Ververs et al., 2009).
by the nonlinear kinetics of phenytoin, altered volume of distribution Taken together, these data unavoidably leave one to conclude that
during pregnancy, and the resulting inter-relationship between volume CYP2D6 function is enhanced during pregnancy, but raise questions
of distribution changes and clearance changes. Proguanil, a possible of the true magnitude of change. For example, is it appropriate to trust
CYP2C19 marker, has been studied during pregnancy using single the validated probe data, or should the accumulating data for alternative
time-point plasma samples. Cycloguanil (metabolite) concentration substrates with less well characterized overall clearance mechanisms, or
was decreased by 42% in CYP2C19 extensive metabolizers (EMs), confounding changes in minor clearance pathways, be emphasized to
whereas proguanil concentrations were unchanged during pregnancy translate changes in CYP2D6 activity into recommendations of clinical
(McGready et al., 2003). The concentration ratio of proguanil (parent) dosage adjustment?
to cycloguanil (metabolite) concentration ratio increased significantly At present, it is not clear whether CYP2B6 activity increases during
(by 62%) during pregnancy in CYP2C19 EMs, but it also increased by pregnancy. This is a significant gap in our knowledge, as CYP2B6
40% in CYP2C19 poor metabolizers, suggesting that the change might contributes to the elimination of many drugs commonly administered
not be due to altered CYP2C19 activity, but rather altered con- during pregnancy. The clearance of efavirenz, a CYP2B6 marker, was
tributions from other enzymes or the clearance of the metabolite. unaffected by pregnancy (Cressey et al., 2012), but efavirenz is both

TABLE 1
Summary of changes in P450 probe and sensitive marker drug disposition and in disposition of UGT markers at different stages of pregnancy

Effect on Marker Clearance during Gestation

Target P450 Marker Drug Reference
First Trimester Second Trimester Third Trimester

CYP1A2 Caffeine, theophylline (Carter et al., 1986; Tracy et al., 2005)

CYP2B6 Efavirenz a (Cressey et al., 2012)
CYP2D6 Metoprolol (dextromethorphan UR) () () (Hogstedt et al., 1985; Tracy et al., 2005)
()
CYP2C9 Phenytoin (Dickinson et al., 1989; Tomson et al., 1994)
CYP3A4 Midazolam (Hebert et al., 2008)
UGT1A4 Lamotrigine (Franco et al., 2008; Ohman et al., 2008)
UGT2B7 Zidovudine (Watts et al., 1991; OSullivan et al., 1993)

UGT, UDP glucuronosyltransferase; UR, urinary ratio.

a
Efavirenz area under the curve was unaffected, but Cmin was significantly decreased during the third trimester. Efavirenz is an inducer and inactivator of CYP2B6, and this may confound the
findings.
 Pregnancy-Mediated Changes in Drug Disposition 259
an inducer and an inactivator of CYP2B6, and therefore, these data are whereas the clearance of the related antibiotic ampicillin was increased
difficult to interpret mechanistically. In contrast, decreased methadone during pregnancy (Philipson, 1977; Chamberlain et al., 1993). These
concentrations and increased clearance of methadone have been data suggest that, despite their similar structures, different active
reported in pregnant women (Pond et al., 1985; Wolff et al., 2005), secretion and reabsorption mechanisms that change during pregnancy
suggesting that CYP2B6 (or CYP3A4) activity or renal clearance of contribute to amoxicillin and ampicillin renal clearance. It appears
methadone is increased during pregnancy (Dickmann and Isoherranen, that changes in secretory drug transporter activity in the kidney con-
2013). Again, additional research is needed to fully understand the time tribute to altered drug disposition and response during pregnancy.
course of CYP2B6 activity during pregnancy. Table 2 summarizes the existing data on changes in the disposition of
In addition to the changes in P450 enzyme activity during transporter marker substrates (from the FDA list of recommended
pregnancy, there is clear evidence that the activity of some but not substrates) during pregnancy. As shown, data on changes in drug
all UGT enzymes is altered by pregnancy. This is of importance due to transporter activity are even sparser than those on drug-metabolizing
the fact that UGT enzymes often contribute not only to the elimination enzymes. In a pivotal study evaluating changes in P-glycoprotein
of the parent drug but also to the elimination of pharmacologically activity, digoxin renal and secretion clearance were shown to increase
active metabolites or metabolites that are used as markers of P450 during pregnancy (Hebert et al., 2008). Similarly, metformin secretion
activity. For example, circulating concentrations of the antiepileptic by organic cation transporters (OCTs) was shown to increase during
drug lamotrigine decreased by about 50% during pregnancy (Franco the second and third trimesters, but not during the first trimester (Eyal
et al., 2008), and the plasma concentration ratio of lamotrigine et al., 2010). It is possible that the increase in metformin secretion is
glucuronide to lamotrigine increased by about 2-fold in the second and also due to increased expression of multidrug and toxic compound

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third trimesters of pregnancy compared with postpartum (Ohman extrusions in the kidney, as metformin secretion has been shown to be
et al., 2008). Lamotrigine N-glucuronidation is predominantly affected by these transporters (Tanihara et al., 2007; Kusuhara et al.,
mediated by UGT1A4 (Green et al., 1995), and hence, these data 2011). The published metformin data are unique, as they allow an
suggest that UGT1A4 activity is increased during pregnancy, and has evaluation of changes in tubular secretion throughout gestation.
important implications for seizure control in pregnant women taking Although elimination by secretory processes is important for
lamotrigine. In contrast, based on zidovudine and morphine maternal drug disposition, fetal transporters may also play a critical
pharmacokinetic data, UGT2B7 activity is unaltered during pregnancy role in protection of the fetus from the deleterious effects of
(Anderson, 2005). xenobiotics. For example, in this issue of Drug Metabolism and
In addition to maternal hepatic increases in UGT and P450 ex- Disposition, Sharma et al. (2013) describe the transport of 17a-
pression, fetal UGT and P450 activity is also of note. In this issue of hydroxyprogesterone caproate in adult human and fetal hepatocytes,
Drug Metabolism and Disposition, the mRNA expression of and show that 17a-hydroxyprogesterone caproate, a drug used to
UGT2B7, UGT2B15, and UGT2B17 in fetal tissues including fetal prevent preterm labor, is a substrate of multiple transporters in fetal
liver, lungs, adrenal glands, and kidneys is shown (Ekstrom et al., and adult human hepatocytes. The report provides a comparison of
2013). Although the mRNA levels were overall lower than those transporter expression in adult and fetal hepatocytes, demonstrating
observed in adult human tissues, it is possible that the fetal UGT that MDR3 and sodium-taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide are
enzymes do contribute to detoxification of xenobiotics within the predominantly expressed in adult hepatocytes, and overall expression
fetus. In another article in this issue (Vyhlidal et al., 2013), levels of all of the transporters measured, except MRP4, were lower in
a correlation between maternal cigarette smoking and induction of fetal hepatocytes than in adult hepatocytes (Sharma et al., 2013).
fetal hepatic and lung CYP1A1 and fetal lung CYP1B1 was observed. Incorporation of these data into a PBPK model for the maternal-fetal
Although the focus of the manuscript is in validating placental unit may permit prediction of how changing fetal liver transporter
cotinine concentrations as a biomarker for fetal exposure to cigarette function during pregnancy influences fetal drug exposure.
smoke, the correlation between this biomarker and fetal P450
induction is of interest.
It has been assumed that the renal clearance of drugs is generally Use of Animal Models to Study Changes in Drug Disposition
increased during pregnancy due to the fact that glomerular filtration during Pregnancy
rate increases significantly along with renal blood flow during For many years, investigators have used animal models to
pregnancy (Anderson, 2005; Abduljalil et al., 2012). However, the characterize fetal safety and drug disposition during pregnancy (Fig.
clearance of amoxicillin, a drug cleared almost exclusively via the 1). Early on, the nonhuman primate model was considered to be the
renal route, was unaffected by pregnancy (Muller et al., 2008a,b), most appropriate system to study pregnancy-mediated changes in drug

TABLE 2
Summary of changes in transporter probe and sensitive marker drug disposition at different stages of pregnancy

Effect on Clearance during Gestation

Transporter Marker Drug Reference
First Trimester Second Trimester Third Trimester

P-gp Digoxin (Hebert et al., 2008)

OATP1B1 Glyburidea (Hebert et al., 2009)
OCT2 Metformin b (Hughes et al., 2006; Eyal et al., 2010;
de Oliveira Baraldi et al., 2011)
OAT1 Zidovudine, lamivudine (Moodley et al., 1998)
OAT3 Acyclovir, zidovudine (Frenkel et al., 1991; Haddad et al., 1993)

OCT, organic cation transporter; OAT, organic anion transporter; P-gp, P-glycoprotein.
a
While glyburide is listed as an in vivo substrate of OATP1B1, it is cleared by CYP3A4 and CYP2C9 and is a substrate of BCRP (breast cancer resistance protein). Hence, it is not possible to
determine which enzyme is responsible for the increased clearance of glyburide during pregnancy in vivo.
b
The secretion clearance of metformin was significantly increased during the third trimester, although oral clearance was not significantly increased.
260 Isoherranen and Thummel

disposition, and it was used extensively to evaluate both fetal exposure phenomenon of interest in humans. Although the data presented
to drugs and teratogens, and the disposition of xenobiotics during collectively provide a foundation for the mouse model as a system to
pregnancy. However, recent studies have shown that rodents, evaluate pregnancy-mediated changes in drug disposition, it is clear that
especially mice, can be a valuable model to investigate changes in we are still far from understanding the detailed mechanisms of how drug-
drug disposition during pregnancy and mechanisms of P450 regulation metabolizing and transport activities are altered during pregnancy. An
by hormones (Zhang et al., 2008), although as pointed out below there interesting aspect of the mouse data is that, for transporters that are
are clear limitations. In this issue of Drug Metabolism and expressed in multiple tissues such as the placenta, maternal kidney, and
Disposition, several investigators provide a characterization of how the liver and fetal tissues, the regulation of these enzymes during
specific drug-metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters are altered pregnancy appears to be tissue-specific. To gain an understanding of
in the pregnant mouse model. For example, Cyp2d expression and tissue-specific regulation, novel tools clearly need to be developed to
dextromethorphan metabolism were increased in mouse liver, and the allow extrapolation of mechanistic findings to specific tissues in vivo.
observed change was in agreement with the changes in dextro-
methorphan metabolism during human pregnancy (Topletz et al.,
2013). The specific increase in Cyp2d40 and Cyp26a1 mRNA Mechanistic Studies Using In Vitro Systems to Evaluate
(Topletz et al., 2013) was also in qualitative agreement with the Regulation of Drug-Metabolizing Enzymes and Transporters
detected increase in these transcripts in the microarray study reported during Pregnancy
in this issue (Shuster et al., 2013). Some differences in individual Potentially the most challenging aspect of studying drug disposition
Cyp2d mRNA expression were, however, observed between the two during pregnancy relates to establishing a clear link between reg-

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studies, highlighting the challenges of quantifying pregnancy- ulatory control of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters by
mediated changes in mice. Interestingly, in the microarray study of endogenous compounds in vitro and the changes in relevant cell
the changes in the hepatic and renal mRNA expression of genes exposure to these endogenous compounds during pregnancy. Just
related to drug disposition, including P450, UGT, and sulfotransferase because a compound can elicit an increase or decrease in the ex-
genes (Shuster et al., 2013), the authors report that increases in UGT pression of an enzyme or transporter in vitro does not necessarily
mRNAs were not observed, despite the increase in lamotrigine mean that altered systemic or local concentrations of that molecule are
(UGT1A4) metabolic clearance that occurs during human pregnancy. responsible for changes in tissue drug metabolism and transport gene
This issue of Drug Metabolism and Disposition also shows that the expression during pregnancy. For example, three studies in this issue
expression of carboxylesterases is decreased during mouse pregnancy of Drug Metabolism and Disposition approach the regulation of P450
(Fortin et al., 2013). This is of interest as oseltamivir, a drug used to enzymes by estrogens, progesterone, and their combination (Choi
prevent influenza and H1N1 virus infection during pregnancy, is et al., 2013; Dickmann and Isoherranen, 2013; Papageorgiou et al.,
converted to its active entity oseltamivir carboxylate by carboxyles- 2013). Together with past evaluations of regulation of P450 enzymes
terases (primarily CES-1). During pregnancy, oseltamivir exposure by estrogens (Choi and Jeong, 2009; Mwinyi et al., 2010; Choi et al.,
and oral clearance were not altered compared with nonpregnant 2011; Koh et al., 2012), these studies clearly show that pregnancy-
controls, suggesting carboxylesterase activity is unchanged during related hormones regulate P450 mRNA in vitro. However, as
human pregnancy (Beigi et al., 2011). However, exposure to highlighted in the articles, during pregnancy maternal hepatocytes
oseltamivir carboxylate was lower in pregnant than nonpregnant are exposed to a combination of hormones and growth factors that
women. This is most likely due to an increase in the clearance of the may act in a synergistic or antagonistic manner, and dissecting
metabolite, in the absence of a change in parent drug AUC and individual mechanisms and regulators will require more in vivo
a parallel oseltamivir clearance pathway. Better validation of the studies during pregnancy as well as more detailed in vitro studies. The
mouse model and understanding of the mechanisms of decreased potential role of estrogens and progestins in the regulation of P450
carboxylesterase mRNA in the mouse will be helpful to determine the expression during pregnancy is supported by the fact that oral
mechanisms of oseltamivir clearance changes in humans. contraceptives have similar effects on P450 activity as observed
With regard to drug transport in the pregnant mouse model, it was during pregnancy. For example, oral contraceptives had a similar
found that both renal Mdr1b (Yacovino et al., 2013) and Mdr1a effect on proguanil to cycloguanil oxidation as pregnancy in vivo,
(Shuster et al., 2013) expression were decreased during gestation, suggesting that hormonal regulation of CYP2C19 takes place
whereas digoxin renal clearance is increased in humans (Hebert et al., (McGready et al., 2003). In agreement, downregulation of CYP2C19
2008). Similarly, renal Oct2 and Oct3 mRNA was reported to be by synthetic and natural estrogens has been shown in vitro (Mwinyi
unchanged in mice, and Oct1 mRNA was downregulated at day 7 of et al., 2010). A similar phenomenon is seen with CYP1A2 and its
gestation and mildly (1.1-fold) upregulated on day 17 of pregnancy decreased activity during pregnancy.
(Yacovino et al., 2013), despite the observed significant increase in The regulation of drug transporter genes by estrogens during
metformin renal secretion in humans (Eyal et al., 2010). It is possible pregnancy is also poorly understood, but may involve a combination
that the increase in metformin renal clearance during pregnancy is of estrogen receptor activation and activation of constitutive androgen
due to increased expression of MATE instead of OCT3, as MATE1 receptor by estrogens (Koh et al., 2012). In this issue of Drug
and MATE2 have been suggested to contribute to metformin renal Metabolism and Disposition, hepatic MRP3 expression is shown to be
clearance (Tanihara et al., 2007; Kusuhara et al., 2011). However, the induced by synthetic and natural estrogens via estrogen receptors (Ruiz
mRNA of Mate1 was also consistently decreased in mouse kidney et al., 2013). This suggests that, during pregnancy, MRP3 expression
during gestation (Shuster et al., 2013; Yacovino et al., 2013). Of the would be increased. However, in the mouse microarray study (Shuster
renal transporters, only Mrp3 mRNA was increased during pregnancy. et al., 2013), a decrease in MRP3 mRNA in the liver was observed
As such, a better validation of renal clearance changes in the mouse during pregnancy, whereas in a separate study, kidney MRP3 was
during pregnancy is needed. increased (Yacovino et al., 2013), suggesting that the effects of
Overall, these available data show that any animal model used to study pregnancy-related hormones on specific gene regulation are tissue-
mechanisms of changes in drug disposition during pregnancy should be specific. These data also show that validation studies for mechanistic
validated for the enzyme/transporter of interest and shown to replicate the predictions are critical to fully understand how pregnancy influences
 Pregnancy-Mediated Changes in Drug Disposition 261
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Hebert MF, Ma X, Naraharisetti SB, Krudys KM, Umans JG, Hankins GD, Caritis SN, Mio-
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