Novel insights into the complex pharmacokinetics of voriconazole: a review of its metabolism.

Novel insights into the complex pharmacokinetics of voriconazole: a review of its metabolism. Drug Metab Rev. 2019 Jun 19;:1-49 Authors: Schulz J, Kluwe F, Mikus G, Michelet R, Kloft C Abstract Voriconazole, a second-generation triazole frequently used for the prophylaxis and treatment of invasive fungal infections, undergoes complex metabolism mainly involving various (polymorphic) cytochrome P450 enzymes in humans. Although high inter- and intraindividual variability in voriconazole pharmacokinetics have been observed and the therapeutic range for this compound is relatively narrow, the metabolism of voriconazole has not been fully elucidated yet. The available literature data investigating the multiple different pathways and metabolites are extremely unbalanced and thus the absolute or relative contribution of the different pathways and enzymes involved in the metabolism of voriconazole remains uncertain. Furthermore, other factors such as nonlinear pharmacokinetics caused by auto-inhibition or -induction and polymorphisms of the metabolizing enzymes hinder safe and effective voriconazole dosing in clinical practice and have not yet been studied sufficiently. This review aimed at amalgamating the available literature on the pharmacokinetics of voriconazole in vitro and in vivo, with a special focus on metabolism in adults and children, in order to congregate an overall landscape of the current body of knowledge and identify knowle...
Source: Drug Metabolism Reviews - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Drug Metab Rev Source Type: research