Fluoxetine

🧬 Receptor activity

Target	Action	Affinity	Source
Sodium-dependent serotonin transporter	—	Ki 1.1 nM	CHEMBL
5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2C	—	Ki 72 nM	CHEMBL
Unchecked	—	Ki 392 nM	CHEMBL
Transporter	—	Ki 473 nM	CHEMBL
Sodium-dependent dopamine transporter	—	Ki 784 nM	CHEMBL

Mechanism of action

The monoaminergic hypothesis of depression emerged in 1965 and linked depression with dysfunction of neurotransmitters such as noradrenaline and serotonin. Indeed, low levels of serotonin have been observed in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients diagnosed with depression. As a result of this hypothesis, drugs that modulate levels of serotonin such as fluoxetine were developed. Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and as the name suggests, it exerts it's therapeutic effect by inhibiting the presynaptic reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin. As a result, levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) are increased in various parts of the brain. Further, fluoxetine has high affinity for 5-HT transporters, weak affinity for noradrenaline transporters and no affinity for dopamine transporters indicating that it is 5-HT selective. Fluoxetine interacts to a degree with the 5-HT2C receptor and it has been suggested that through this mechanism, it is able to increase noradrenaline and dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex.

Pharmacodynamics

Fluoxetine blocks the serotonin reuptake transporter in the presynaptic terminal, which ultimately results in sustained levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in certain brain areas. However, fluoxetine binds with relatively poor affinity to 5-HT, dopaminergic, adrenergic, cholinergic, muscarinic, and histamine receptors which explains why it has a far more desirable adverse effect profile compared to earlier developed classes of antidepressants such as tricyclic antidepressants.

Pharmacokinetics

Half-life

The half life of fluoxetine is significant with the elimination half-life of the parent drug averaging 1-3 days after acute administration, and 4-6 days after chronic administration. Further, the elimination half life of it's active metabolite, norfluoxetine, ranges from 4-16 days after both acute and chronic administration. The half-life of fluoxetine should be considered when switching patients from fluoxetine to another antidepressant since marked accumulation occurs after chronic use. Fluoxetine's long half-life may even be beneficial when discontinuing the drug since the risk of withdrawal is minimized.

Absorption

The oral bioavailability of fluoxetine is <90% as a result of hepatic first pass metabolism. In a bioequivalence study, the Cmax of fluoxetine 20 mg for the established reference formulation was 11.754 ng/mL while the Cmax for the proposed generic formulation was 11.786 ng/ml. Fluoxetine is very lipophilic and highly plasma protein bound, allowing the drug and it's active metabolite, norfluoxetine, to be distributed to the brain.
Fluoxetine is primarily eliminated in the urine.
The volume of distribution of fluoxetine and it's metabolite varies between 20 to 42 L/kg.
The clearance value of fluoxetine in healthy patients is reported to be 9.6 ml/min/kg.

Metabolism

Fluoxetine is metabolized to norfluoxetine by CYP1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP3A4, and CYP3A5 upon ingestion. Although all of the mentioned enzymes contribute to N-demethylation of fluoxetine, CYP2D6, CYP2C9 and CYP3A4 appear to be the major contributing enzymes for phase I metabolism. In addition, there is evidence to suggest that CYP2C19 and CYP3A4 mediate O-dealkylation of fluoxetine and norfluoxetine to produce para-trifluoromethylphenol which is subsequently metabolized to hippuric acid. Both fluoxetine and norfluoxetine undergo glucuronidation to facilitate excretion. Notably, both the parent drug and active metabolite inhibit CYP2D6 isozymes, and as a result patients who are being treated with fluoxetine are susceptible to drug interactions.
Fluoxetine has known human metabolites that include Norfluoxetine, p-Trifluoromethyl phenol, and (2S,3S,4S,5R)-3,4,5-trihydroxy-6-[methyl-[3-phenyl-3-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenoxy]propyl]amino]oxane-2-carboxylic acid.
Limited data from animal studies suggest that fluoxetine may undergo first-pass metabolism may occur via the liver and/or lungs. Fluoxetine appears to be extensively metabolized, likely in the liver, to norfluoxetine and other metabolites. Norfluoxetine, the principal active metabolite, is formed via N-demethylation of fluoxetine. Norfluoxetine appears to be comparable pharmacologic potency as fluoxetine. Fluoxetine and norfluoxetine both undergo phase II glucuronidation reactions in the liver. It is also thought that fluoxetine and norfluoxetine undergo O-dealkylation to form p-trifluoromethylphenol, which is then subsequently metabolized to hippuric acid.
Route of Elimination: The primary route of elimination appears to be hepatic metabolism to inactive metabolites excreted by the kidney. The S-enantiomer is eliminated more slowly and is the predominant enantiomer present at steady state.
Half Life: 1-3 days [acute administration];
4-6 days [chronic administration];
4-16 days [norfluoxetine, acute and chronic administration].

Protein binding

Approximately 94% of fluoxetine is plasma protein bound.