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In our previous rodent studies, the paclitaxel (PTX)-incorporating polymeric micellar nanoparticle formulation NK105 had showed significantly stronger antitumor effects and reduced peripheral neurotoxicity than PTX dissolved in Cremophor ® EL and ethanol (PTX/CRE). Thus, to elucidate the mechanisms underlying reduced peripheral neurotoxicity due to NK105, we performed pharmacokinetic analyses of NK105 and PTX/CRE in rats. Among neural tissues, the highest PTX concentrations were found in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG). Moreover, exposure of DRG to PTX ( C max_PTX and AUC 0-inf._PTX ) in the NK105 group was almost half that in the PTX/CRE group, whereas exposure of sciatic and sural nerves was greater in the NK105 group than in the PTX/CRE group. In histopathological analyses, damage to DRG and both peripheral nerves was less in the NK105 group than in the PTX/CRE group. The consistency of these pharmacokinetic and histopathological data suggests that high levels of PTX in the DRG play an important role in the induction of peripheral neurotoxicity, and reduced distribution of PTX to the DRG of NK105-treated rats limits the ensuing peripheral neurotoxicity. In further analyses of PTX distribution to the DRG, Evans blue (Eb) was injected with BODIPY ® -labeled NK105 into rats, and Eb fluorescence was observed only in the DRG. Following injection, most Eb dye bound to albumin particles of ~8 nm and had penetrated the DRG. In contrast, BODIPY ® –NK105 particles of ~90 nm were not found in the DRG, suggesting differential penetration based on particle size. Because PTX also circulates as PTX–albumin particles of ~8 nm following injection of PTX/CRE, reduced peripheral neurotoxicity of NK105 may reflect exclusion from the DRG due to particle size, leading to reduced PTX levels in rat DRG (275).

-We tried to establish the halothane-anesthetized microminipigs as an alternative animal model for non-clinical toxicity and/or safety pharmacology studies. In order to characterize the halothane-anesthetized microminipigs, we firstly clarified the effects of halothane anesthesia on their cardiovascular system (n = 5). Then, we examined the cardiovascular effects of dl-sotalol in doses of 0.1, 0.3 and 1 mg/kg, i.v. on the halothane-anesthetized microminipigs (n = 6). Induction of the halothane anesthesia by itself prolonged the QT interval as well as QTcF, suggesting that the halothane anesthesia can reduce the cardiac repolarization reserve in microminipigs like in dogs. dl-Sotalol showed more potent negative chronotropic, dromotropic and hypotensive effects together with repolarization delay in microminipigs than in dogs, although each cardiovascular response to dl-sotalol was directionally similar between them, suggesting greater basal sympathetic tone and/or smaller volume of distribution of the drug in microminipigs than in dogs. Analyses of proarrhythmic surrogate markers indicate that T peak -T end and short-term variability of QT interval may be more sensitive to detect the dl-sotalol-induced direct electrophysiological changes in microminipigs than in dogs, but its reverse will be true for J-T peak c. Thus, these results may help better understand the drug-induced cardiovascular responses in microminipigs.

Abstract. Although acute treatment of pentamidine does not directly modify any ionic channel function in the heart at clinically relevant concentrations, its continuous exposure can prolong QT interval. Recent in vitro studies have indicated that hERG trafficking inhibition may play an important role in the onset of pentamidine-induced long QT syndrome. In this study, we examined acute in vivo electropharmacological effects of pentamidine using the halothaneanesthetized canine model (n = 5). The clinically relevant total dose of 4 mg/kg of pentamidine (namely, 1 mg/kg, i.v. over 10 min followed by 3 mg/ kg, i.v. over 10 min with a pause of 20 min) decreased the mean blood pressure, ventricular contraction, preload to the left ventricle, and peripheral vascular resistance. Pentamidine also enhanced the atrioventricular conduction in parallel with its cardiohemodynamic actions, but it gradually prolonged both the ventricular repolarization period and effective refractory period, whereas no significant change was detected in the intraventricular conduction. Thus, acute administration of a clinically relevant dose of pentamidine can suppress cardiac function and vascular tone with reflex-mediated increase of sympathetic activity, whereas it may delay the repolarization process, suggesting that inhibition of potassium-channel trafficking might be induced more acutely in vivo than those previously expected in vitro.

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