Carboxylesterase 1 (CES1) is the major hydrolase in human liver. The enzyme is involved in the metabolism of several important therapeutic agents, drugs of abuse, and endogenous compounds. However, no studies have described the role of human CES1 in the activation of two commonly prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors: enalapril and ramipril. Here, we studied recombinant human CES1- and CES2-mediated hydrolytic activation of the prodrug esters enalapril and ramipril, compared with the activation of the known substrate trandolapril. Enalapril, ramipril, and trandolapril were readily hydrolyzed by CES1, but not by CES2. Ramipril and trandolapril exhibited Michaelis-Menten kinetics, while enalapril demonstrated substrate inhibition kinetics. Intrinsic clearances were 1.061, 0.360, and 0.02 ml/min/mg protein for ramipril, trandolapril, and enalapril, respectively. Additionally, we screened a panel of therapeutic drugs and drugs of abuse to assess their inhibition of the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl acetate by recombinant CES1 and human liver microsomes. The screening assay confirmed several known inhibitors of CES1 and identified two previously unreported inhibitors: the dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, isradipine, and the immunosuppressive agent, tacrolimus. CES1 plays a role in the metabolism of several drugs used in the treatment of common conditions, including hypertension, congestive heart failure, and diabetes mellitus; thus, there is a potential for clinically relevant drug-drug interactions. The findings in the present study may contribute to the prediction of such interactions in humans, thus opening up possibilities for safer drug treatments.

A chiral liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS-MS) method was developed and validated for quantifying methylphenidate and its major metabolite ritalinic acid in blood from forensic cases. Blood samples were prepared in a fully automated system by protein precipitation followed by solid-phase extraction. The LC–MS-MS method was linear in the range of 0.5 to 500 ng/g for the enantiomers of both analytes. For concentrations above the limit of quantification, coefficients of variation were 15% or less, and the accuracy was 89 to 94%. For 12 postmortem samples in which methylphenidate was not determined to be related to the cause of death, the femoral blood concentration of d-methylphenidate ranged from 5 to 58 ng/g, and from undetected to 48 ng/g for l-methylphenidate (median d/l-ratio 5.9). Ritalinic acid was present at concentrations 10–20 times higher with roughly equal amounts of the d- and l-forms. In blood from 10 living subjects that were not suspected of being intoxicated by methylphenidate, the concentration ranges and patterns were similar to those of the postmortem cases. Thus, methylphenidate does not appear to undergo significant postmortem redistribution.

Carboxylesterase 1 (CES1) metabolizes methylphenidate and other drugs. CES1 gene variation only partially explains pharmacokinetic (PK) variability. Biomarkers predicting the PKs of drugs metabolized by CES1 are needed. We identified lipids in plasma from 44 healthy subjects that correlated with CES1 activity as determined by PK parameters of methylphenidate including a ceramide (q value = 0.001) and a phosphatidylcholine (q value = 0.005). Carriers of the CES1 143E allele had decreased methylphenidate metabolism and altered concentration of this phosphatidylcholine (q value = 0.040) and several high polyunsaturated fatty acid lipids (PUFAs). The half‐maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) values of chenodeoxycholate and taurocholate were 13.55 and 19.51 μM, respectively, consistent with a physiological significance. In silico analysis suggested that bile acid inhibition of CES1 involved both binding to the active and superficial sites of the enzyme. We initiated identification of metabolites predicting PKs of drugs metabolized by CES1 and suggest lipids to regulate or be regulated by this enzyme.