Pharmacogenetics of Bupropion Metabolism

Bupropion is widely used in the treatment of depression and for smoking cessation. It's most abundant metabolite, hydroxybupropion, may be responsible for most of the therapeutic effect of bupropion under conditions of long term dosing. Because the primary enzyme involved in metabolism of bupropion to hydroxybupropion is the liver enzyme CYP2B6, we propose to study the effect of different CYP2B6 genotypes on the metabolism of bupropion. These data will guide the use of genotypes as a surrogate for measuring drug blood levels in studying genetic determinants of outcomes for bupropion treatment. A minimum of Forty-four subjects with 4 different CYP2B6 genotypes will participate in a 7-day study in which they take bupropion as outpatients for 6 days (to achieve steady state drug levels) and then come to the San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) Clinical Research Center for a 1-day admission during which multiple blood and urine samples will be collected for pharmacokinetic analysis.