Codeine's metabolic fate in the body is complex, and detailed quantitative knowledge of it, and that of its metabolites is lacking among prescribers. We aimed to develop a codeine pharmacokinetic pathway model for codeine and its metabolites that incorporates the effects of genetic polymorphisms. We studied the phenotype-specific time courses of plasma codeine, codeine-6-glucoronide, morphine, morphine-3-glucoronide, and morphine-6-glucoronide. A codeine pharmacokinetic pathway model accurately fit the time courses of plasma codeine and its metabolites. We used this model to build a population pharmacokinetic codeine pathway model. The population model indicated that about 10% of a codeine dose was converted to morphine in poor-metabolizer phenotype subjects. The model also showed that about 40% of a codeine dose was converted to morphine in EM subjects, and about 51% was converted to morphine in ultrarapid-metabolizers. The population model further indicated that only about 4% of MO formed from codeine was converted to morphine-6-glucoronide in poor-metabolizer phenotype subjects. The model also showed that about 39% of the MO formed from codeine was converted to morphine-6-glucoronide in extensive-metabolizer phenotypes, and about 58% was converted in ultrarapid-metabolizers. We conclude, a population pharmacokinetic codeine pathway model can be useful because beyond helping to achieve a quantitative understanding the codeine and MO pathways, the model can be used for simulation to answer questions about codeine's pharmacogenetic-based disposition in the body. Our study suggests that pharmacogenetics for personalized dosing might be most effectively advanced by studying the interplay between pharmacogenetics, population pharmacokinetics, and clinical pharmacokinetics.
Keywords: CYP2C8; CYP2D6; CYP3A4; clinical pharmacokinetics; clinical pharmacology; codeine; morphine; pharmacogenetics; pharmacogenomics; population pharmacokinetics.