Drug Metabolizing Enzymes in the Perinatal and Neonatal Period: Differences in the Expression and Activity

Laura      Cuzzolin

doi:10.2174/1389200211314020003

Abstract

Physiological changes occurring perinatally and in the first month of life can affect the answer to a pharmacological treatment and the individual response to a drug in terms of efficacy and toxicity is highly variable in the neonatal population. Among potential causes for such variability, differences in drug metabolism may have a great impact.

This article aims to review qualitative and quantitative differences in drug metabolizing enzymes in neonates, since both phase I and phase II metabolic pathways are immature at birth and subject to maturational changes in the first period of extrauterine life.

Moreover, clinical implications will be discussed.

Keywords: Newborns, drugs, enzymes, Drug Metabolizing Enzymes, Perinatal, Neonatal Period, toxicity, phase II, CYP2C, CYP3A5, Sulfation