Pharmacometabolomics Detects Unreported Clopidogrel Metabolites in the Urine of Kidney and Liver Transplant Recipients.

Background/

Objectives

Clopidogrel is a widely prescribed antiplatelet prodrug that requires bioactivation, primarily by the polymorphic CYP2C19 enzyme. Genetic variation in this enzyme leads to differences in active metabolite formation and has prompted the development of pharmacogenetics-guided prescribing. However, current pharmacogenetic strategies are grounded in drug metabolism knowledge derived from mass balance studies conducted in small groups of healthy volunteers. This narrow evidence base may limit the data's applicability to real-world settings, where factors like polypharmacy or altered organ function may influence drug response.

Methods

Pharmacogenetics could benefit from real-world drug metabolism and excretion studies, which we conducted for clopidogrel in 38 kidney and 16 liver transplant recipients from the TransplantLines Biobank and Cohort Study (NCT03272841), utilizing existing LC-SWATH/MS pharmacometabolomic data. Clopidogrel-associated metabolic signals were identified using xenobiotic metabolism knowledge and literature-reported pathways.

Results

Across both transplant groups, 26 clopidogrel-associated features were prioritized, of which some matched previously reported urinary metabolites, had previously been observed in plasma, or represented previously unreported metabolites. Clopidogrel carboxylic acid predominated in kidney transplant recipients, whereas its glucuronide form was most abundant in liver transplant recipients. Notably, unmetabolized clopidogrel was consistently detected across all patients. Moreover, our data support a thiol desulfurization route, aligning with emerging evidence of clopidogrel's role as a hydrogen sulfide-releasing drug.

Conclusions

More (putative) clopidogrel metabolites were detected than previously reported, demonstrating the value of pharmacometabolomics in expanding our understanding of drug metabolism. This approach provides novel data that may complement pharmacogenetics research to understand clopidogrel response variability among treated patients.