No abstract

ABSTRACT:Benzbromarone has been reported to increase the renal clearance of oxypurinol, an active metabolite of allopurinol. We examined the renal transport of oxypurinol to determine whether such a change in renal clearance could be explained by altered transporter-mediated reabsorption. Since the first step of reabsorption takes place at the renal epithelial apical membrane, we focused on membrane transporters. Benzbromarone is an inhibitor of reabsorption of uric acid mediated by the uric acid transporter (URAT) URAT1 (SLC22A12), which is expressed at the apical membrane of proximal tubular cells in humans. Uptake of oxypurinol by Xenopus oocytes injected with complementary RNA of URAT1 was significantly higher than that by water-injected oocytes, and the uptake was saturable, with a K m of about 800 M. Moreover, benzbromarone inhibited the oxypurinol uptake by URAT1 at concentrations as low as 0.01 M. The uptake of oxypurinol by another organic anion transporter (OAT), OAT4 (SLC22A11), which is also expressed at the apical membrane of proximal tubular epithelial cells, was negligible, whereas the uptake of [ 3 H]estrone-3-sulfate by OAT4 was significantly inhibited by oxypurinol. Furthermore, neither the transport activity of organic cation/carnitine transporter (OCTN) 1 nor OCTN2 was affected by oxypurinol or benzbromarone. These results indicate that URAT1 is involved in renal reabsorption of oxypurinol, and the increment of renal clearance of oxypurinol upon concomitant administration of benzbromarone could be due to drug interaction at URAT1.

ABSTRACT:Recently, it was reported that the organic cation/carnitine transporter 1 (OCTN1, SLC22A4) is associated with chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Crohn's disease. OCTN1 in humans is expressed in synovial tissues of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. Furthermore octn1 in mice is expressed in inflamed joints with collagen-induced arthritis, a model of human arthritis, but not in the joints of normal mice. OCTN1 should be involved in the inflammatory disease and in the present study, the regulatory mechanism of OCTN1 expression was characterized using the human fibroblast-like synoviocyte cell line MH7A, derived from RA patients. A luciferase-reporter gene assay and gel shift assay demonstrated that RUNX1, which is an essential hematopoietic transcription factor associated with acute myeloid leukemia and is related to RA and Sp1, is involved in the regulation of OCTN1 promoter activity. Inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1␤ and tumor necrosis factor-␣ increased the expression of OCTN1 mRNA. Furthermore, overexpression of nuclear factor-B (NF-B) activated promoter activity of OCTN1. These results clearly demonstrate that expression of OCTN1 is regulated by various factors, including RUNX1, inflammatory cytokines, and NF-B, all of which are also related to the pathogenesis of RA. Further studies on the physiological substrate(s) of OCTN1 should be done to clarify the roles of OCTN1 in these diseases.

No abstract

Sp1, a transcription factor, was required for constitutive expression of OATP2B1 in liver and small intestine, whereas HNF1alpha, which is involved in the expression of liver-specific OATPs, did not seem to play a role in OATP2B1 expression. Accordingly, it was suggested that the tissue expression profile of OATP2B1 was different from that of other liver-specific OATPs.

PurposeAcotiamide, a gastroprokinetic agent used to treat functional dyspepsia, is transported to at least two compartments in rat stomach. However, the role of these stomach compartments in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of acotiamide remains unclear. Thus, the purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationship of the blood and stomach concentration of acotiamide with its inhibitory effect on acetylcholinesterase (AChE).MethodsConcentration profiles of acotiamide and acetylcholine (ACh) were determined after intravenous administration to rats and analyzed by physiologically-based pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic (PBPK/PD) model containing vascular space, precursor pool and deep pool of stomach.ResultsAcotiamide was eliminated from the blood and stomach in a biexponential manner. Our PBPK/PD model estimated that acotiamide concentration in the precursor pool exceeded 2 μM at approximately 2 h after administration. Acotiamide inhibited AChE activity in vitro with a 50% inhibitory concentration of 1.79 μM. ACh reached the maximum concentration at 2 h after administration.ConclusionsOur PBPK model well described the profile of acotiamide and ACh concentration in the stomach in the assumption that acotiamide was distributed by carrier mediated process and inhibited AChE in the precursor pool of stomach. Thus, Acotiamide in the precursor pool plays an important role for producing the pharmacological action.

No abstract

Asacol, a medication that delivers delayed release 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), is a useful therapeutic agent for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), but the relationship between its pharmacological actions and intestinal concentrations has not been studied in detail. Therefore, our aim was to assess 5-ASA's pharmacological actions as a function of its concentration at its target site. We first evaluated 5-ASA's release profiles in vitro by the paddle method and found that Asacol starts to release 5-ASA at pH ≥ 7. Orally administered Asacol pharmacokinetic parameters were evaluated in dogs. Asacol's T(max) was much longer than that of the time-dependent release 5-ASA formulation. We also determined 5-ASA's distribution in the intestinal mucosa and found that it is effectively delivered there by Asacol. These results indicated that Asacol released 5-ASA in a pH-dependent manner, resulting in efficient delivery to the large intestine. We also compared the mucosal 5-ASA concentrations with the IC(50) values for scavenging free radicals or suppressing LTB(4) production. The 5-ASA concentration in the large intestine was higher than IC(50) values necessary to suppress inflammatory processes. We also report the release characteristics of Asacol and the targeted delivery of 5-ASA to affected sites in IBD patients.