Effect of a novel 17,20-lyase inhibitor, orteronel (TAK-700), on androgen synthesis in male rats

Abstract Endogenous androgens play a role in the development and progression of prostate cancer (PC), thus androgen suppression may offer an effective therapeutic strategy for this disease. Orteronel (TAK-700), 6-[(7 S )-7-hydroxy-6,7-dihydro-5 H -pyrrolo[1,2- c ]imidazol-7-yl]- N -methyl-2-naphthamide, is a novel, non-steroidal, selective inhibitor of the 17,20-lyase activity of CYP17A – a key enzyme in the production of steroidal hormones – and is being developed as a therapy for PC. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the inhibitory activity of orteronel, in particular its specificity for androgen synthesis enzymes, in male rats – an androgen-synthesis model that largely reflects this pathway in humans. Orteronel inhibited 17,20-lyase activity in rats with an IC 50 of 1200 nM but did not inhibit 17α-hydroxylase or 11β-hydroxylase (CYP11B1) activity in rats at concentrations up to 10 μM. In cellular steroidogenesis assays using rat testicular cells, orteronel suppressed testosterone and androstenedione production with an IC 50 of 640 nM and 210 nM, respectively, but did not suppress either corticosterone or aldosterone production in rat adrenal cells at concentrations up to 30 μM. In addition, serum testosterone and androstenedione levels in human chorionic gonadotropin-injected hypophysectomized rats were significantly reduced by single oral administration of orteronel at a dose of 30 mg/kg (both p  ≤ 0.01); serum corticosterone and aldosterone levels in ACTH-injected hypophysectomized rats did not result in significant differences compared with controls, following orteronel administration at doses up to 300 mg/kg. Serum testosterone levels in intact male rats were significantly reduced by orteronel 4 h after dosing at 100 mg/kg ( p  ≤ 0.01); testosterone levels showed a tendency to recover afterward. In intact male rats, the weight of the prostate glands and seminal vesicles was decreased in a dose-dependent manner following multiple doses of orteronel at 37.5, 150, and 600 mg/kg, TID for 4 days. The reversibility of orteronel was further confirmed using a human adrenocortical tumor cell line. In summary, orteronel is a selective and reversible 17,20-lyase inhibitor, and decreases the weight of androgen-dependent organs in male rats. Our data suggests that orteronel would therefore be effective for androgen-dependent disorders such as PC.