Tatsuji Iga

Prediction of the disposition ofβ-lactam antibiotics in humans from pharmacokinetic parameters in animals

Various pharmacokinetic parameters (disposition half-life, total body clearance, renal clearance, hepatic clearance, volume of distribution, intrinsic clearance and volume of distribution of unbound drug) of sixβ-lactam antibiotics were compared in mouse, rat, rabbit, dog, monkey, and human. Two methods for prediction of the disposition of theβ-lactam antibiotics in humans by extrapolation of the animal data were evaluated. One was the Adolph-Dedrick approach, which can be used to predict clearances in humans from the relationship between intrinsic clearances and body weight in the other five species. The volume of distribution in humans was predicted from the relationship between the volume of distribution and serum unbound fraction in the five species. The other was the Boxenbaum approach, which can be used to predict the pharmacokinetic parameters of the sixβ-lactam antibiotics in humans by using the regression lines of log-log plots of intrinsic clearance and volume of distribution of unbound drug in a single species, in this case the monkey. The half-life calculated according to the latter method had a smaller absolute error than that calculated according to the former method, but the better method for extrapolation of animal data to humans seems to be the former method, which does not require a prioriinformation regarding structure-pharmacokinetic relationships among the antibiotics.

Determination of erythromycin, clarithromycin, roxithromycin, and azithromycin in plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with amperometric detection

In this study, a high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the quantitative determination of erythromycin (EM), roxithromycin (RXM), and azithromycin (AZM) in rat plasma with amperometric detection under a standardized common condition using clarithromycin (CAM) as an internal standard. This method was also proved to be applicable for the determination of CAM by employing RXM as an internal standard. Each drug was extracted from 150 microl of plasma sample spiked with internal standard under an alkaline condition with tert.-butyl methyl ether. The detector cell potential for the oxidation of the drugs was set at +950 mV. The linearity of the calibration curves were preserved over the concentration ranges of 0.1-10 microg/ml for EM and RXM, and 0.03-3.0 microg/ml for CAM and AZM. Coefficients of variation and relative error were less than 9% and +/-7%, respectively. The analytical method presented here was proved to be useful for the investigation of the pharmacokinetic characteristics of EM, CAM, RXM, and AZM in rats.

Prediction of diazepam disposition in the rat and man by a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model

A physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for diazepam disposition was developed in the rat, incorporating anatomical, physiological, and biochemical parameters, i.e., tissue volume, blood flow rate, serum free fraction, distribution of diazepam into red blood cells, drug metabolism and tissue-to-blood distribution ratio. The serum free fraction of diazepam was determined by equilibrium dialysis at 37°C and was constant over a wide concentration range. Partition of diazepam between plasma and erythrocytes was determined in vitroat 37°C, and the resultant blood-to-plasma concentration ratio was constant over a wide concentration range. The enzymatic parameters (Km, Vmax)of the eliminating organs, i.e., liver, kidney, and lung, previously determined using microsomes, were used for the prediction. The tissue-to-blood distribution ratios inferred by inspection of the data when pseudoequilibrium is reached after i.v. bolus injection of 1.2 mg/kg diazepam were corrected according to the method of Chen and Gross. Predicted diazepam concentration time-course profiles in plasma and various organs or tissues, using an 11-compartmental model, were compared with those observed. Prediction was successful in all compartments including brain, the target organ of diazepam. Scale-up of the disposition kinetics of diazepam from rat to man was also successful.

Prediction of the Volumes of Distribution of Basic Drugs in Humans Based on Data from Animals

The apparent volume of distribution-after distribution equilibrium and the ratio of distributive tissue volume to the unbound fraction in the tissue (VT/fuT)of 10 weak basic drugs, i.e., chlorpromazine, imipramine, propranolol, disopyramide, lidocaine, quinidine, meperidine, pentazocine, chlorpheniramine, and methacyclin were compared in animal species and humans. In these two parameters, a statistically significant correlation between animals and humans was obtained, when the parameters were plotted on a log-log scale. The correlation coefficient between VT/fuTwas significantly higher than that between the apparent volumes of distribution (p<0.05). In general, there was little difference between VT/fuTof various basic drugs in animals and that in humans. Prediction of the apparent volume of distribution in humans using animal data of VT/fuT,plasma unbound fraction, blood volume, and blood-to-plasma concentration ratio in humans was successful for most of drugs studied.

Prediction of the disposition of nine weakly acidic and six weakly basic drugs in humans from pharmacokinetic parameters in rats

Various pharmacokinetic parameters—disposition half-life, t1/2,z, metabolic clearance CLm, volume of distribution V, intrinsic clearance of unbound drug CLut, and unbound volume of distribution of tissues (distributive tissue volume / fraction of drug in tissue unbound, VT/fuT—are compared in rat and human for nine weakly acidic drugs, phenytoin, hexobarbital, pentobarbital, phenylbutazone, warfarin, tolbutamide, valproate, phenobarbital, and amobarbital, and six weakly basic drugs, quinidine, chlorpromazine, propranolol, pentazocin, antipyrine, and diazepam. With regard to all parameters, statistically significant correlations are obtained when parameters are plotted on a log-log plot. Correlation coefficients between the intrinsic parameters (CLuint or VT/fuT) were higher than those between the hybrid parameters (t1/2,z, CLm, or V). In general, these drugs were metabolized ten times more rapidly in rat than in human. With regard to the tissue distribution of these drugs, there was little difference between rat and human. Predictions of CLm, V, and t1/2, in humans using rat data were successful for most drugs, with a few marked exceptions.

Population pharmacokinetics of vancomycin in Japanese adult patients

Population pharmacokinetic parameters of vancomycin (VCM) in Japanese adult patients infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were estimated using 1253 items of serum concentration data from 190 patients obtained in routine drug monitoring. The two-compartment linear model was adopted, and VCM clearance (CL) was correlated with the creatinine clearance (CLcr), which was observed or estimated by the Cockcroft-Gault equation. The population pharmacokinetic analysis program NONMEM with first-order conditional estimation method was used. The results showed VCM clearance to be linearly correlated with CLcr (CL [ml/min] = 0.797 x CLcr) when the estimated CLcr was <85 ml/min, but no linear relationship at higher than this level because of the lack of accuracy in the CLcr estimates. The interindividual variability of CL was 38.5%; K12 and K21 were 0.525 hr(-1) and 0.213 hr(-1), respectively. The distribution volume at steady state (V[SS]) was 60.71, with no significant dependence on the actual body weight. The interindividual variability of Vss was 25.4%. The calculated half-life (t1/2,beta) in a typical patient with CLcr of 85 ml/minute was 12.8 hours. Residual variability was 23.7%. These results were compared to those of healthy volunteers, and guidelines for dosage adjustment in VCM therapy are discussed.

Kinetic analysis of hepatobiliary transport of vincristine in perfused rat liver Possible roles of P-glycoprotein in biliary excretion of vincristine

Recent studies using bile canalicular membrane vesicles have suggested that P-glycoprotein may play a role in excreting some anticancer drugs from the liver to the bile. At steady state after a continuous single-pass perfusion of a tracer concentration of [3H]vincristine in the rat liver, the extraction ratio was approximately 0.6, and 70% of the extracted drug was excreted into the bile mostly in unchanged form. The liver/perfusate and bile/liver unbound concentration ratios obtained after correction for intracellular binding and the inside-negative membrane potentials and/or pH difference between the inside and outside of the cells, were approximately 2-3 and 160-280, respectively, suggesting a highly concentrated biliary excretion process. We also examined the effects of verapamil, a P-glycoprotein-related transport inhibitor in cancer cells, on the hepatobiliary transport of [3H]vincristine. Verapamil 50 microM in the perfusate caused a decrease in the biliary excretion rate of [3H]vincristine, whereas [14C]taurocholate (reference compound) remained constant. In contrast, the hepatic uptake rate of [3H]vincristine exhibited minimum reduction, suggesting that verapamil selectively inhibited the biliary excretion of [3H]vincristine at the canalicular membrane. The fact that verapamil had little effect on the initial velocity of [3H]vincristine uptake by isolated hepatocytes also supports the above findings. Since the effect of 150 microM verapamil in the perfusate was not selective for vincristine, the biliary excretion rates of both compounds ([3H]vincristine, [14C]taurocholate) were reduced by this concentration of verapamil. In conclusion, the concentrative excretion of vincristine into the bile and its selective inhibition by a moderate concentration of verapamil provide indirect evidence for the contribution of P-glycoprotein to the biliary excretion of vincristine in a perfused rat liver system.

Physiologically based pharmacokinetics of drug-drug interaction: a study of tolbutamide-sulfonamide interaction in rats.

A blood flow rate-limited pharmacokinetic model was developed to study the effect of sulfonamide on the plasma elimination and tissue distribution of14C -tolbutamide (TB) in rats. The sulfonamides (SA) used were sulfaphenazole (SP), sulfadimethoxine (SDM), and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ). The tissue-to-plasma partition coefficients (Kp) of all tissues studied, i.e., lung, liver, heart, kidney, spleen, G.I. tract, pancreas, brain, muscle, adipose tissue, and skin, increased in the presence of SA, but except for brain, liver, and spleen, the tissue-to-plasma unbound concentration ratio (Kp, f) of other tissues did not show a significant alteration. This suggested that the tissue binding of TB is not affected by SA and that the increase of Kp is due mainly to the displacement of plasma protein-bound TB by SA. The concentrations of TB in several tissues and plasma were predicted by a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model using in vitro plasma binding and metabolic parameters, the plasma-to-blood concentration ratio and the tissue-to-plasma unbound concentration ratios having been determined from both the tissue and plasma concentrations of TB at the β-phase after intravenous administration of TB and the plasma free fraction. The predicted concentration curves of TB in each tissue and in plasma showed good agreement with the observed values except for the brain, for which the predicted concentrations were lower than the observed values in the early time period. In the SP- and SDM-treated rats, the predicted free concentration of TB in the target organ, the pancreas, at 6 h was six times higher than that of the control rats. From these findings, it is suggested that physiologically based pharmacokinetic analysis could be generally useful to predict approximate plasma and tissue concentrations of a drug in the presence of drug-drug interaction.

Comparison of the Hepatic Uptake Clearances of Fifteen Drugs with a Wide Range of Membrane Permeabilities in Isolated Rat Hepatocytes and Perfused Rat Livers

The hepatic uptake clearances of 15 ligands with a wide range of permeabilities were determined in rats using two techniques: centrifugal filtration with isolated hepatocytes and the multiple indicator dilution (MID) method with isolated perfused livers. Some of the uptake clearance values were taken from the literature. Uptake clearance values obtained from isolated hepatocytes were extrapolated to that per gram liver (PSinf, cell), assuming that 1 g of liver has 1.3 × 108 cells. The values of PSinf, cell varied from approximately 0.1 to 72 (mL/min/g liver). The values of PSinf, cell were similar to those (PSinf,MID) determined by the MID method for ligands with uptake clearances below approximately 1 mL/min/g liver. However, for the ligands with larger uptake clearances, the PSinf, MID values were lower than the PSinf,cell values and appeared to reach an upper limit (approx. 15–20 mL/min/g liver). The PSinf,cell values of 1-propranolol, tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP+), and diazepam were 72, 43, and 22 mL/min/g liver, respectively, whereas their uptake clearances (PSinf,MID) determined by the MID method were 4 to 10 times lower. One of the possible mechanisms for this discrepancy is that an unstirred water layer, which may exist in Disses space in isolated perfused livers (and probably under in vivo condition), limits the hepatic uptake rate of ligands with extremely high membrane permeabilities.

Uptake of organic anions by isolated rat hepatocytes: A classification in terms of ATP-dependency

Uptake of organic anions into isolated rat hepatocytes was studied to examine their ATP dependency. In the presence of rotenone (0.2 microM), the initial velocity of the uptake (Vo) of dibromosulfophthalein (DBSP; 10 microM), 1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS; 10 microM) and benzylpenicillin (PCG; 0.02 microM) was reduced to 60-70% of the control value, while that of bromosulfophthalein (BSP; 10 microM), rose bengal (RB; 10 microM) and bromophenol blue (BPB; 10 microM) was not affected. Furthermore, we examined the inhibitory effect of rotenone on the uptake at equilibrium of non-metabolizable ligands (DBSP, BPB and RB). The uptake of these ligands reached equilibrium at 30 min with a cel-to-medium concentration ratio (C/M ratio) of 75, 37 and 126, respectively. The C/M ratio at equilibrium of DBSP was reduced by rotenone to approx. 60% of the control value, while that of BPB and RB was not reduced. Other metabolic inhibitors such as sodium azide (10 mM) and carbonylcyanide-p-trifluoromethoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP; 10 microM) also reduced the Vo of DBSP and PCG, while the uptake of BSP and RB was not reduced by these inhibitors. These results indicate that organic anions can be classified into two groups according to whether they are taken up by hepatocytes in an ATP-dependent manner, i.e., via active transport or in an ATP-independent manner, i.e., via facilitated diffusion. DBSP, PCG and ANS belong to the former group, whereas BSP, BPB and RB belong to the latter.