Microbial process for the synthesis of Glucuronoides of Atrovastatin and Simvastatin

Aim of this study was to investigate a novel method for the synthesis of glucuronides of atorvastatin and simvastatin using microorganism. In the first step of the investigation, some of the fungal species like Aspergillus ochraceous, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Rhizopus stolanifer MTCC 162, Rhizopus stolanifer MTCC 2591 and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were screened for their ability to bring about glucuronidation of the two selected statins. In the second step, the bioconversion was carried out in the presence of surfactant, SLS. In the screening, it was found that Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus ochraceous were capable of bringing out the glucuronidation of Atorvastatin and Aspergillus niger of Simvastatin. Aspergillus ochraceous, converted atorvastatin to three glucuronide conjugates, whereas with Aspergillus flavus, four different glucuronide conjugates were identified. The study also indicated that the bio conversion was higher when carried out in presence of a surfactant.