The liver is the primary organ for drug metabolism, containing most metabolically active enzymes. In vitro metabolic models such as liver microsomes and hepatocytes are often selected as standard models for in vitro metabolic studies.
Commonly used models for studying metabolic stability include liver microsomes and suspended hepatocytes:
Liver microsomes are rich in metabolic enzymes (especially cytochrome P450 enzymes), easy to use, and relatively low in cost.
Suspended hepatocytes possess more complete drug-metabolizing enzymes and cofactors, so they can be used for studies on different metabolic clearance pathways.
