Jiangeng Huang

Enhanced intestinal absorption of etoposide by self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems: Roles of P-glycoprotein and cytochrome P450 3A inhibition

Etoposide is recognized as a dual P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A) substrate drug with poor water-solubility. To improve its solubility and bioavailability, three novel self-microemulsifying drug delivery systems (SMEDDS) contained the known P-gp and CYP3A inhibitory surfactants, Cremophor RH40, Cremophor EL, or Polysorbate 80, were prepared. This work aims to evaluate the enhanced intestinal absorption of etoposide SMEDDS as well as to explore the roles of P-gp and CYP3A inhibition in the absorption process. Etoposide SMEDDS were orally administered to rats for in vivo bioavailability investigation. In situ single-pass intestinal perfusion with mesenteric vein cannulation was employed to study the drug permeability and intestinal metabolism. In vitro Caco-2 cell models were applied to study the effects of P-gp and CYP3A inhibition by SMEDDS on the cellular accumulation of etoposide. It was found that the bioavailability and in situ intestinal absorption were significantly enhanced by SMEDDS with the order of Polysorbate 80-based SMEDDS>Cremophor EL-based SMEDDS>Cremophor RH40-based SMEDDS. In addition, there was a dramatically high linear correlation between the AUC0-t values and the apparent permeability coefficient values based on the appearance of the drug in mesenteric vein blood. Cellular uptake studies demonstrated that P-gp inhibition by SMEDDS played an important role in etoposide uptake. Moreover, etoposide metabolism was demonstrated to be dramatically inhibited by the three kinds of SMEDDS. These finding may assist in the improvement of the intestinal absorption of P-gp and/or CYP3A substrate drugs.

In vitro metabolic stability and metabolite profiling of TJ0711 hydrochloride, a newly developed vasodilatory β-blocker, using a liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method

In this paper, a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the simultaneous analysis of metabolic stability and metabolite profiling of 1-[4-(2-methoxyethyl) phenoxy]-3-[[2-(2-methoxyphenoxy) ethyl]amino]-2-propanol hydrochloride (TJ0711 HCl), a new vasodilatory β-blocker. Multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) was used as a survey scan to quantify the parent compound and to trigger the acquisition of enhanced product ions (EPI) for the identification of formed metabolites. In addition, comparison between MRM-only and MRM-information dependent acquisition-EPI (MRM-IDA-EPI) methods was conducted to determine analytical variables, including linearity, limit of detection (LOD), lower limit of quantification (LLOQ), as well as intra-day and inter-day accuracy and precision. Results demonstrated that MRM-IDA-EPI quantitative analysis was not affected by the addition of EPI scans to obtain qualitative information during the same chromatographic run, compared to MRM-only method. Thereafter, metabolic stability and metabolite identification of TJ0711 HCl were investigated using human liver microsomes (HLM) by the MRM-IDA-EPI method. The in vitro metabolic stability parameters were calculated and t(1/2), microsomal intrinsic clearance (CL(int)), as well as hepatic CL, were 13.0 min, 106.5 μL/min/mg microsomal protein, and 1082.2 mL/min, respectively. The major formed metabolites were also simultaneously monitored and the metabolite profiling data demonstrated that this MRM-IDA-EPI method was capable of targeting a large number of metabolites, in which demethylation and hydroxylation were the principle metabolism pathways during the in vitro incubation with HLM.

Effect of pluronic P123 and F127 block copolymer on P-glycoprotein transport and CYP3A metabolism.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of pluronic P123 (P123) and pluronic F127 (F127) on intestinal P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and cytochrome P450 3A using the specific substrates rhodamine-123 (R-123) and midazolam, respectively. Caco-2 cells and everted gut sacs were used as models of intestinal mucosa to assess intestinal absorption of R-123, while rat intestinal microsomes were utilized to examine the effect of P123 and F127 on in vitro midazolam metabolism. P123 and F127 were observed to increase the intracellular accumulation of R-123 in Caco-2 cells in a dose-dependent manner. P123 significantly lowered the efflux ratio of R-123 at two concentrations in Caco-2 monolayers, whereas F127 lowered the efflux ratio only at 1%. Moreover, both pluronics markedly enhanced mucosal to serosal absorption of R-123 in excised ileum of rats. However, no significant difference in relative enzyme activity were observed between P123- or F127-treated and control groups, regardless of the concentrations of P123 and F127 studied. Collectively, these results obtained from the present study demonstrated that P123 and F127 were capable of inhibiting the intestinal P-gp activity, but had little or no effect on intestinal cytochrome P450 3A activity, indicating that P123 and F127 can potentially be used as pharmaceutical ingredients to improve the oral bioavailability of coadministered P-gp substrates via P-gp efflux pump inhibition.

The role of L-type amino acid transporters in the uptake of glyphosate across mammalian epithelial tissues.

Glyphosate is one of the most commonly used herbicides worldwide due to its broad spectrum of activity and reported low toxicity to humans. Glyphosate has an amino acid-like structure that is highly polar and shows low bioavailability following oral ingestion and low systemic toxicity following intravenous exposures. Spray applications of glyphosate in agricultural or residential settings can result in topical or inhalation exposures to the herbicide. Limited systemic exposure to glyphosate occurs following skin contact, and pulmonary exposure has also been reported to be low. The results of nasal inhalation exposures, however, have not been evaluated. To investigate the mechanisms of glyphosate absorption across epithelial tissues, the permeation of glyphosate across Caco-2 cells, a gastrointestinal epithelium model, was compared with permeation across nasal respiratory and olfactory tissues excised from cows. Saturable glyphosate uptake was seen in all three tissues, indicating the activity of epithelial transporters. The uptake was shown to be ATP and Na(+) independent, and glyphosate permeability could be significantly reduced by the inclusion of competitive amino acids or specific LAT1/LAT2 transporter inhibitors. The pattern of inhibition of glyphosate permeability across Caco-2 and nasal mucosal tissues suggests that LAT1/2 play major roles in the transport of this amino-acid-like herbicide. Enhanced uptake into the epithelial cells at barrier mucosae, including the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts, may result in more significant local and systemic effects than predicted from glyphosates passive permeability, and enhanced uptake by the olfactory mucosa may result in further CNS disposition, potentially increasing the risk for brain-related toxicities.

Study of the in vitro metabolism of TJ0711 using ultra high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight and ultra fast liquid chromatography with quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry.

TJ0711 (1-[4-(2-methoxyethyl)phenoxy]-3-[2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)ethylamino]-2-propanol) is a novel β-adrenoreceptor blocker with vasodilating activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro metabolic properties of TJ0711 from both qualitative and quantitative aspects using mouse, rat, dog, and human liver microsomes as well as rat hepatocytes. Two modern liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry systems, ultra high performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and ultra fast liquid chromatography with quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry, were utilized for the analysis. To better characterize the metabolic pathways of TJ0711, two major metabolites were incubated under the same conditions as that for TJ0711. TJ0711 was extensively metabolized in vitro, and a total of 34 metabolites, including 19 phase I and 15 phase II metabolites, were identified. Similar metabolite profiles were observed among species, and demethylation, hydroxylation, carboxylic acid formation, and glucuronidation were proposed as the major metabolic routes. Significant interspecies differences were observed in the metabolic stability studies of TJ0711. Furthermore, gender differences were significant in mice, rats, and dogs, but were negligible in humans. The valuable information provided in this work will be useful in planning and interpreting further pharmacokinetic, in vivo metabolism and toxicological studies of this novel β-blocker.

Simultaneous quantification of fosinopril and its active metabolite fosinoprilat in rat plasma by UFLC-MS/MS: Application of formic acid in the stabilization of an ester-containing drug

Fosinopril is an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor containing a phosphate ester group which undergoes esterase hydrolysis to its active metabolite, fosinoprilat. EDTA was utilized as an anticoagulant to inhibit the hydrolysis of fosinopril in whole blood during blood collection and processing. To prevent the ex vivo conversion to fosinoprilat, formic acid was added to rat plasma to effectively stabilize fosinopril. A sensitive, rapid and robust ultra-fast liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UFLC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of fosinopril and fosinoprilat in rat plasma. Protein precipitation was employed for plasma sample clean-up. Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Welch Ultimate XB-C18 column using gradient elution with a total run time of 5min. Analytes and their stable isotope labeled internal standards were detected by positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometric assay. The assay involves quantitation of both analytes in small-volume (50μL) plasma, with the lower limit of quantification of 0.1 and 1ng/mL for fosinopril and fosinoprilat, respectively. The method was fully validated in linear calibration ranges of 0.1-150ng/mL for fosinopril and 1-1500ng/mL for fosinoprilat with acceptable accuracy and precision. Assay recoveries were high (>95% for fosinopril and >91% for fosinoprilat) and matrix effect was negligible. Both analytes were found to be stable in stabilized rat plasma for 6h at room temperature, 30 days at -80°C, and following three freeze-thaw cycles and were also stable in processed samples for 36h at 4°C. The validated method was successfully applied to sample analyses for pharmacokinetic study of fosinopril and can be extended to the measurement of fosinopril in other biological samples.

In vitro enantioselective metabolism of TJ0711 hydrochloride by human liver microsomes using a novel chiral liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method

A novel liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method employing chiral analytical techniques was developed and validated for in vitro enantioselective metabolic stability study of racemic 1-[4-(2-methoxyethyl) phenoxy]-3-[[2-(2-methoxyphenoxy) ethyl]amino]-2-propanol hydrochloride (TJ0711 HCl), a newly developed vasodilatory β-blocker. Robust enantiomeric separations were achieved on a chiral SUMICHIRAL OA-2500 column using ethanol and hexane (40:60, v/v) as a mobile phase. Metabolic stability results demonstrated that both TJ0711 enantiomers underwent a rapid phase I metabolism, but preferential metabolism of R-TJ0711 was observed. Our previously reported ultra-performance liquid chromatography-multiple reaction monitoring-information dependent acquisition-enhanced product ion (UPLC-MRM-IDA-EPI) method was finally chosen for metabolite profiling study of TJ0711 enantiomers, because the newly developed HPLC-based method resulted in compromised chromatographic separation, particularly for TJ0711 metabolites. A number of metabolic products were detected and the structures of formed metabolites were predicted. Similar to racemic TJ0711 HCl, demethylation and hydroxylation were proposed to be the principle metabolism pathways during in vitro incubations of each enantiomer with human liver microsomes.

LC-MS/MS analysis of pramipexole in mouse plasma and tissues: elimination of lipid matrix effects using weak cation exchange mode based solid-phase extraction.

Intranasal delivery is emerging as a promising alternative for oral or intravenous administration of central nervous system (CNS) drugs, such as pramipexole which is widely used for the treatment of Parkinsons disease. To evaluate the effectiveness of intranasal delivery of pramipexole, preclinical pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution studies following intranasal administration need to be investigated. In this paper, we developed and validated a robust and sensitive LC-MS/MS assay without matrix effect for accurate measurements of pramipexole in mouse plasma and tissue samples. Pramipexole and its stable isotope labeled internal standard (d3-pramipexole) were extracted from biological samples by protein precipitation (PPT) coupled with solid phase extraction (SPE) using weak cation exchange SPE cartridges. Matrix effects were studied using post-column infusion and post-extraction addition experiments by direct monitoring of typical phospholipids including glycerophosphocholines (GPChos) and lysoglycerophosphocholines (Lyso-GPChos). Chromatographic separation was achieved on a Welch Ultimate(®) XB-CN column using isocratic elution with a run time of 3.0 min. The assay was linear in the concentration range of 0.05-100 ng/mL and the intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy met the acceptance criteria. Compared with previous reported assays, the current sample preparation approach exhibited significant reduction of matrix effects due to the dramatically decreased levels of residual matrix components such as GPChos and Lyso-GPChos. This method has been successfully applied to pharmacokinetic and tissue distribution studies of pramipexole in mice following a single intravenous or intranasal dose of 50 μg/kg.

Screening of stabilizers for LC-MS/MS analysis of clevidipine and its primary metabolite in dog whole blood

BACKGROUND Clevidipine is an ester-containing antihypertensive agent that undergoes rapid hydrolysis in blood. A reliable stabilizer cocktail containing citric acid and ascorbic acid was established and the LC-MS/MS method was validated for simultaneous determination of clevidipine and its major metabolite in beagle dog whole blood. RESULTS The stabilizer could nearly completely inhibit the esterase activity. Both analytes were extracted from whole blood by toluene and detected by MS/MS in positive ESI mode. The linearity range was 0.1-100.0 ng/ml for clevidipine and 1.0-1000.0 ng/ml for the primary metabolite. CONCLUSION The stabilizer cocktail was able to effectively suppress the activity of esterase in blood. The method was successfully applied to a PK study of clevidipine in beagle dogs.

A simple and sensitive liquid chromatographic technique for the determination of cefotetan disodium in human plasma and its application in a pharmacokinetic study

A simple and sensitive liquid chromatographic method was developed for quantification of cefotetan disodium (CTT), a semi-synthetic cephamycin antibiotic, in human plasma. CTT and the internal standard chloramphenicol were extracted from plasma by a simple one-step protein precipitation with 35% (v/v) perchloric acid. Separation was carried out on a reverse-phase C18 column with a mobile phase of acetonitile-water containing 0.5% (v/v) phosphoric acids (20:80, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The column effluent was monitored by UV detection at 300 nm. The column temperature was maintained at 40°C. This method demonstrated good linearity in the range of 0.525–300.0 μg/mL, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.525 μg/mL in human plasma. Intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 6.63% in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD). The accuracy, when expressed by the bias, ranged from 0.57% to 4.04%. The mean extraction recovery of CTT was higher than 40.94%. The method was found to be precise, accurate, and specific for CTT quantitative analysis, and was successfully applied for a pharmacokinetic study of CTT after a single intravenous dose of 1.0 g of CTT in healthy Chinese subjects.SummaryA simple and sensitive liquid chromatographic method was developed for quantification of cefotetan disodium (CTT), a semi-synthetic cephamycin antibiotic, in human plasma. CTT and the internal standard chloramphenicol were extracted from plasma by a simple one-step protein precipitation with 35% (v/v) perchloric acid. Separation was carried out on a reverse-phase C18 column with a mobile phase of acetonitile-water containing 0.5% (v/v) phosphoric acids (20:80, v/v) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The column effluent was monitored by UV detection at 300 nm. The column temperature was maintained at 40°C. This method demonstrated good linearity in the range of 0.525–300.0 μg/mL, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.99. The limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.525 μg/mL in human plasma. Intra- and inter-day precisions were less than 6.63% in terms of relative standard deviation (RSD). The accuracy, when expressed by the bias, ranged from 0.57% to 4.04%. The mean extraction recovery of CTT was higher than 40.94%. The method was found to be precise, accurate, and specific for CTT quantitative analysis, and was successfully applied for a pharmacokinetic study of CTT after a single intravenous dose of 1.0 g of CTT in healthy Chinese subjects.