
Amfepramone (AFP) is an appetite-suppressant drug used in the treatment of obesity. Nonetheless, studies on interindividual pharmacokinetic variability and its association with genetic variants are limited. We employed a pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenetic approach to determine possible metabolic phenotypes of AFP and identify genetic markers that could affect the pharmacokinetic variability in a Mexican population. A controlled, randomized, crossover, single-blind, two-treatment, two-period, and two sequence clinical study of AFP (a single 75 mg dose) was conducted in 36 healthy Mexican volunteers who fulfilled the study requirements. Amfepramone plasma levels were measured using high-performance liquid chromatography mass spectrometry. Genotyping was performed using real-time PCR with TaqMan probes. Four AFP metabolizer phenotypes were found in our population: slow, normal, intermediate, and fast. Additionally, two gene polymorphisms, ABCB1-rs1045642 and CYP3A4-rs2242480, had a significant effect on AFP pharmacokinetics (P