Ketoconazole

Ketoconazole is an imidazole-containing small molecule inhibitor of cytochrome P-450. It is an inhibitor of CYP17A1, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5. Ketoconazole inhibits cyclosporine oxidase and testosterone 6 beta-hydroxylase with IC50 of 0.19 mM and 0.22 mM, respectively. Ketoconazole also inhibits TXA Synthase (thromboxane synthetase) and 5-LO (5-lipoxygenase) activity. Ketoconazole induces a decrease of the number of cells in S phase and a corresponding increase of the percentage of cells in Go-G1 in HT29-S-B6 cells. Ketoconazole (25 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly decreased plasma corticosterone and reduced low dose cocaine self-administration without affecting food-reinforced responding. Ketoconazole is currently in a phase 2 clinical trial with Prostate Cancer.