Archives of Pharmacal Research

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Pluronic F68 and Labrasol on the intestinal absorption and pharmacokinetics of rifampicin. Intestinal permeability of rifampicin with or without excipients was evaluated by an in situ single-pass perfusion method. A highperformance liquid chromatographic method was applied to study the pharmacokinetics of rifampicin with or without excipients. Labrasol or Pluronic F68 (0.1% and 0.05%, v/v), co-perfused with rifampicin (60 μg/mL), significantly increased in situ permeability. Similarly, verapamil (a typical P-gp inhibitor) also increased in situ permeability, but to a lesser extent. In vivo, the oral administration of rifampicin with or without Pluronic F68, Labrasol or verapamil resulted in statistically significant effect on t1/2 (4.83 to 7.75, 6.42 and 7.46 h) and total body clearance (0.46 to 0.26, 0.28, 0.24 L/h/kg). In addition, Pluronic F68, Labrasol and verapamil produced minor changes in AUC0−t, which improved 1.55-, 1.54-, and 1.73-fold in comparison to control group, respectively. These results showed that Labrasol and Pluronic F68 might inhibit the function of P-gp in the intestine, thereby increasing intestinal absorption and changing the pharmacokinetic parameters of rifampicin. Therefore, excipient selection is an important factor to consider in rational formulation design.

The effect of acute renal failure (ARF) on the pharmacokinetics of sulfobromophthalein (BSP) was investigated in order to elucidate if renal failure modifies the hepatic metabolism of drugs. ARF was induced by intravenous (iv) injection of uranyl nitrate (UN) to rats (5 mg/kg) five days before the experiment. Area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of BSP after portal vein (pv) injection increased by 2-fold and total body clearance (CL t) decreased one half (p<0.01) in UN-induced ARF (UN-ARF) rats compared to the control rats. But the plasma disappearance of BSP afteriv injection did not differ significantly between control and UN-ARF rats. Since BSP is excretedvia the liver,CL t representd the approximate hepatic clearance of BSP. Therefore, the decrease inCL t represents a decrease in hepatic intrinsic clearance (CL int) for BSP since plasma free fraction (f p) of BSP was not affected by UN-ARF. The content of hepatic cytoplasmic Y-protein, which catalyzes BSP-glutathione conjugation and limits the transfer of BSP from blood to bile, increased significantly (p<0.01), however its binding activity (BA) for BSP was decreased significantly (p<0.01) by UN-ARF. The decrease inCL int might have some correlation with the changed characteristics of hepatic Y-protein, specifically its decreased BA for BSP.

Phlorotannins, the polyphonic compounds found in brownEisenia andEcklonia algae, have several pharmacologically beneficial effects such as anti-inflammation. In addition, our recent data show that these compounds may improve the cognitive functions of aged humans suggesting the potential ability to enhance memory in several neurodegenerative disorders. To examine the experimental hypothesis that two effective components ofEcklonia cava, dieckol and phlorofucofuroeckol (PFF), have memory-enhancing abilities, both were administered orally to mice before a passive avoidance test. The repeated administration of either dieckol or PFF dose-dependently reduced the inhibition of latency by the administration of ethanol. To investigate the mode of memory-enhancing actions, the levels of major central neurotransmitters in three different regions (striatum, hippocampus, and frontal cortex) of the mouse brain were measured. The levels of some of the neurotransmitters, were significantly changed by ethanol. Both dieckol and PFF altered the levels of some neurotransmitters modified by the ethanol treatment. It is noteworthy that both dieckol and PFF increased the level of acetylcholine, and they exerted anticholinesterase activities. Overall, the memory-enhancing abilities of dieckol and PFF may result from, at least in part, the increment of the brain level of acetylcholine by inhibiting acetylcholinesterase.

A quantitative and pattern recognition analyses were conducted for quality evaluation of Kalopanacis Cortex (KC) using HPLC. For quantitative analysis, four bioactive compounds, liriodendrin, pinoresinol O-β-D-glucopyranoside, acanthoside B and kalopanaxin B, were determined. The analysis method was optimized and validated using ODS column with mobile phase of methanol and aqueous phosphoric acid. The validation gave acceptable linearities (r > 0.9995), recoveries (98.4% to 101.9%) and precisions (RSD < 2.20). The limit of detection of compounds ranged from 0.4 to 0.9 μg/mL. Among the four compounds, liriodendrin was recommended as a marker compound for the quality control of KC. The pattern analysis was successfully carried out by analyzing thirty two samples from four species, and the authentic KC samples were completely discriminated from other inauthentic species by linear discriminant analysis. The results indicated that the method was suitable for the quantitative analysis of liriodendrin and the quality evaluation of KC.

One new lignan, trichobenzolignan (1), and seven known compounds, ligballinol (2), (−)-pinoresinol (3), ehletianol C (4), luteolin 7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (5), chrysoeriol-7- O-β-D-glucopyranoside (6), 10α-cucurbita-5,24-dien-3β-ol (7), and arvenin I (8). Their structures were established on the basis of spectral and chemical evidence, which were in agreement with those reported in literature. The cytotoxic activities of these compounds were evaluated on four cancer cell lines such as A-549 (human lung cancer), HT-29 (human colon adenocarcinoma), OVCAR (human ovarian carcinoma), and MCF-7 (human breast cancer). As the results, compound 7 showed significant activity on HT-29 and OVCAR cancer cell lines with IC50 of 4.1 and 6.5 µM, respectively. Compounds 1, 5, 6, and 8 exhibited moderate activities in all cancer cell lines with IC50 ranging from 11.3 to 42.8 µM.

Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), a potent bioactive phospholipid, mediates diverse cellular responses by binding to specific G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). We investigated the signaling mechanisms underlying LPA-induced COX-2 expression in primary cultures of feline esophageal epithelial cells. The identity of the cultures was confirmed by immunocytochemistry using a cytokeratin antibody. Western blot analysis revealed a concentration-and time-dependent induction of COX-2 in response to LPA. Of the three major MAPKs, only ERK1/2 was activated by LPA in a time-dependent manner. LPA-induced COX-2 expression was significantly attenuated by the MEK inhibitor, PD98059, but not by the JNK inhibitor, SP600125, or the p38 MAPK inhibitor, SB212090. LPA-induced COX-2 expression was repressed by pertussis toxin, GF109204X, and Ki16425, indicating the involvements of PTX-sensitive Gi/o protein, PKC, and the LPA1/3 receptor, respectively. Our data suggest that in esophageal epithelial cells, LPA-induced COX-2 expression requires activation of PKC and ERK1/2 downstream of the LPA1/3 receptor, Understanding the regulation of COX-2 expression induced by LPA in esophageal epithelial cells might provide a new therapeutic strategy for esophageal inflammatory diseases.

Recently matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS) imaging has been used to analyze small molecule pharmaceutical compounds directly on tissue sections to determine spatial distribution within target tissue and organs. The data presented to date usually indicate relative amounts of drug within the tissue. The determination of absolute amounts is still done using tissue homogenization followed by traditional liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In this study, the quantitative determination of loperamide, an antidiarrheal agent and a P-glycoprotein substrate, in mdr1a/1b (−/−) mouse brain tissue sections using MALDI MS on a quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry is described. 5 mg/mL α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid in 50% acetonitrile with 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid and 0.5 μM reserpine was used as the MALDI matrix. The calibration curve constructed by the peak intensities of standard samples from MALDI MS was linear from 0.025 to 0.5 μM with r2 = 0.9989. The accuracy of calibration curve standards was 78.3–105.9% and the percent deviation was less than 25%. Comparison between direct MALDI tissue analysis and conventional tissue analysis using homogenization followed by electrospray LC-MS/MS was also explored.