18O-Enabled High-Throughput Acyl Glucuronide Stability Assay

Acyl glucuronides (AGs) are common metabolites of carboxylic acid-containing compounds. In some circumstances, AGs are suspected to be involved in drug toxicity due to formation of acyl migration products that bind covalently to cellular components. The risk of this adverse effect has been found to be correlated with the chemical stability of the AG, and assays have been described that monitor acyl migration by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS). This analysis can be challenging as it requires baseline chromatographic separation of the unmigrated 1-β-acyl glucuronide from the migrated isomers and thus needs to be individually optimized for each aglycone. Therefore, a high-throughput assay that eliminates LC method development is desirable. Herein, we report an improved acyl glucuronide stability assay based on the rate of 18O-incorporation from [18O] water, which is compatible with high-throughput bioanalytical LC-MS workflows. Synthetic AGs with shorter migration half-lives showed faster incorporation of 18O. The level of differential incorporation of 18O following a 24 h incubation correlates well with the migration tendency of AGs. This assay was developed further, exploring in situ generation of AGs by human hepatic microsomal fraction. The results from 18 in situ-formed acyl glucuronides were similar to those obtained using authentic reference standards. In this format, this new 18O-labeling method offers a simplified workflow, requires no LC method development or AG reference standard, and thus facilitates AG liability assessment in early drug discovery.