The effects of metoclopramide on the central nervous system (CNS) in patients suggest substantial brain distribution. Previous data suggest that metoclopramide brain kinetics may nonetheless be controlled by ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters expressed at the blood-brain barrier. We used 11 C-metoclopramide PET imaging to elucidate the kinetic impact of transporter function on metoclopramide exposure to the brain. Methods: 11 C-metoclopramide transport by P-glycoprotein (P-gp; ABCB1) and the breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP; ABCG2) was tested using uptake assays in cells overexpressing P-gp and BCRP. 11 C-metoclopramide brain kinetics were compared using PET in rats (n 5 4-5) in the absence and presence of a pharmacologic dose of metoclopramide (3 mg/kg), with or without P-gp inhibition using intravenous tariquidar (8 mg/kg). The 11 C-metoclopramide brain distribution (V T based on Logan plot analysis) and brain kinetics (2-tissue-compartment model) were characterized with either a measured or an imaged-derived input function. Plasma and brain radiometabolites were studied using radio-high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. Results: 11 C-metoclopramide transport was selective for P-gp over BCRP. Pharmacologic dose did not affect baseline 11 C-metoclopramide brain kinetics (V T 5 2.28 ± 0.32 and 2.04 ± 0.19 mL⋅cm −3 using microdose and pharmacologic dose, respectively). Tariquidar significantly enhanced microdose 11 C-metoclopramide V T (7.80 ± 1.43 mL⋅cm −3 ) with a 4.4-fold increase in K 1 (influx rate constant) and a 2.3-fold increase in binding potential (k 3 /k 4 ) in the 2-tissue-compartment model. In the pharmacologic situation, P-gp inhibition significantly increased metoclopramide brain distribution (V T 5 6.28 ± 0.48 mL⋅cm −3 ) with a 2.0-fold increase in K 1 and a 2.2-fold decrease in k 2 (efflux rate), with no significant impact on binding potential. In this situation, only parent 11 C-metoclopramide could be detected in the brains of P-gp-inhibited rats. Conclusion: 11 C-metoclopramide benefits from favorable pharmacokinetic properties that offer reliable quantification of P-gp function at the blood-brain barrier in a pharmacologic situation. Using metoclopramide as a model of CNS drug, we demonstrated that P-gp function not only reduces influx but also mediates the efflux from the brain back to the blood compartment, with additional impact on brain distribution. This PET-based strategy of P-gp function investigation may provide new insight on the contribution of P-gp to the variability of response to CNS drugs between patients.

PET with avid substrates of P-glycoprotein (ABCB1) provided evidence of the role of this efflux transporter in effectively restricting the brain penetration of its substrates across the human blood-brain barrier (BBB). This may not reflect the situation for weak ABCB1 substrates including several antidepressants, antiepileptic drugs, and neuroleptics, which exert central nervous system effects despite being transported by ABCB1. We performed PET with the weak ABCB1 substrate 11 C-metoclopramide in humans to elucidate the impact of ABCB1 function on its brain kinetics. Methods: Ten healthy male subjects underwent 2 consecutive 11 C-metoclopramide PET scans without and with ABCB1 inhibition using cyclosporine A (CsA). Pharmacokinetic modeling was performed to estimate the total volume of distribution (V T) and the influx (K 1) and efflux (k 2) rate constants between plasma and selected brain regions. Furthermore, 11 C-metoclopramide washout from the brain was estimated by determining the elimination slope (k E,brain) of the brain time-activity curves. Results: In baseline scans, 11 C-metoclopramide showed appreciable brain distribution (V T 5 2.11 ± 0.33 mL/cm 3). During CsA infusion, whole-brain gray matter V T and K 1 were increased by 29% ± 17% and 9% ± 12%, respectively. K 2 was decreased by 15% ± 5%, consistent with a decrease in k E,brain (−32% ± 18%). The impact of CsA on outcome parameters was significant and similar across brain regions except for the pituitary gland, which is not protected by the BBB. Conclusion: Our results show for the first time that ABCB1 does not solely account for the "barrier" property of the BBB but also acts as a detoxifying system to limit the overall brain exposure to its substrates at the human blood-brain interface.

PET imaging using radiolabeled avid substrates of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter P-glycoprotein (ABCB1) has convincingly revealed the role of this major efflux transporter in limiting the influx of its substrates from blood into the brain across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Many drugs, such as metoclopramide, are weak ABCB1 substrates and distribute into the brain even when ABCB1 is fully functional. In this study, we used kinetic modeling and validated simplified methods to highlight and quantify the impact of ABCB1 on the BBB influx and efflux of C-metoclopramide, as a model of a weak ABCB1 substrate, in nonhuman primates. The regional brain kinetics of a tracer dose of C-metoclopramide (298 ± 44 MBq) were assessed in baboons using PET without ( = 4) or with ( = 4) intravenous coinfusion of the ABCB1 inhibitor tariquidar (4 mg/kg/h). Metabolite-corrected arterial input functions were generated to estimate the regional volume of distribution ( ), as well as the influx ( ) and efflux ( ) rate constants, using a 1-tissue-compartment model. Modeling outcome parameters were correlated with image-derived parameters, that is, areas under the regional time-activity curves (AUCs) from 0 to 30 min and from 30 to 60 min (SUV⋅min) and the elimination slope ( ; min) from 30 to 60 min. Tariquidar significantly increased the brain distribution ofC-metoclopramide ( = 4.3 ± 0.5 mL/cm and 8.7 ± 0.5 mL/cm for baseline and ABCB1 inhibition conditions, respectively, < 0.001), with a 1.28-fold increase in ( < 0.05) and a 1.64-fold decrease in ( < 0.001). The effect of tariquidar was homogeneous across different brain regions. The parameters most sensitive to ABCB1 inhibition were (2.02-fold increase) and AUC from 30 to 60 min (2.02-fold increase). correlated significantly ( < 0.0001) with AUC from 30 to 60 min ( = 0.95), with AUC from 0 to 30 min ( = 0.87), and with ( = 0.62). C-metoclopramide PET imaging revealed the relative importance of both the influx hindrance and the efflux enhancement components of ABCB1 in a relevant model of the human BBB. The overall impact of ABCB1 on drug delivery to the brain can be noninvasively estimated from image-derived outcome parameters without the need for an arterial input function.

The tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib poorly penetrates the blood-brain barrier (BBB) because of efflux transport by P-glycoprotein (ABCB1) and breast cancer resistance protein (ABCG2), thereby limiting its utility in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer metastases in the brain. Pharmacologic strategies to inhibit ABCB1/ABCG2-mediated efflux transport at the BBB have been successfully developed in rodents, but it remains unclear whether these can be translated to humans given the pronounced species differences in ABCG2/ABCB1 expression ratios at the BBB. We assessed the efficacy of two different ABCB1/ ABCG2 inhibitors to enhance brain distribution of 11 C-erlotinib in nonhuman primates as a model of the human BBB. Methods: Papio anubis baboons underwent PET scans of the brain after intravenous injection of 11 C-erlotinib under baseline conditions (n 5 4) and during intravenous infusion of high-dose erlotinib (10 mg/kg/h, n 5 4) or elacridar (12 mg/kg/h, n 5 3). Results: Under baseline conditions, 11 C-erlotinib distribution to the brain (total volume of distribution [V T ], 0.22 6 0.015 mL/cm 3 ) was markedly lower than its distribution to muscle tissue surrounding the skull (V T , 0.86 6 0.10 mL/cm 3 ). Elacridar infusion resulted in a 3.5 6 0.9-fold increase in 11 C-erlotinib distribution to the brain (V T , 0.81 6 0.21 mL/cm 3 , P , 0.01), reaching levels comparable to those in muscle tissue, without changing 11 Cerlotinib plasma pharmacokinetics. During high-dose erlotinib infusion, 11 C-erlotinib brain distribution was also significantly (1.7 6 0.2-fold) increased (V T , 0.38 6 0.033 mL/cm 3 , P , 0.05), with a concomitant increase in 11 C-erlotinib plasma exposure. Conclusion: We successfully implemented ABCB1/ABCG2 inhibition protocols in nonhuman primates resulting in pronounced increases in brain distribution of 11 C-erlotinib. For patients with brain tumors, such inhibition protocols may ultimately be applied to create more effective treatments using drugs that undergo efflux transport at the BBB.

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Overcoming the efflux mediated by ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters at the blood-brain barrier (BBB) remains a challenge for the delivery of small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) such as erlotinib to the brain. Inhibition of ABCB1 and ABCG2 at the mouse BBB improved the BBB permeation of erlotinib but could not be achieved in humans. BBB disruption induced by focused ultrasound (FUS) was investigated as a strategy to overcome the efflux transport of erlotinib in vivo. In rats, FUS combined with microbubbles allowed for a large and spatially controlled disruption of the BBB in the left hemisphere. ABCB1/ABCG2 inhibition was performed using elacridar (10 mg/kg i.v). The brain kinetics of erlotinib was studied using 11 C-erlotinib Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging in 5 groups (n = 4-5 rats per group) including a baseline group, immediately after sonication (FUS), 48 h after FUS (FUS + 48 h), elacridar (ELA) and their combination (FUS + ELA). BBB integrity was assessed using the Evan's Blue (EB) extravasation test. Brain exposure to 11 C-erlotinib was measured as the area under the curve (AUC) of the brain kinetics (% injected dose (%ID) versus time (min)) in volumes corresponding to the disrupted (left) and the intact (right) hemispheres, respectively. EB extravasation highlighted BBB disruption in the left hemisphere of animals of the FUS and FUS + ELA groups but not in the control and ELA groups. EB extravasation was not observed 48 h after FUS suggesting recovery of BBB integrity. Compared with the control group (AUC Baseline = 1.4 ± 0.5%ID.min), physical BBB disruption did not impact the brain kinetics of 11 C-erlotinib in the left hemisphere (p > .05) either immediately (AUC FUS = 1.2 ± 0.1%ID.min) or 48 h after FUS (AUC FUS+48h = 1.1 ± 0.3%ID.min). Elacridar similarly increased 11 C-erlotinib brain exposure to the left hemisphere in the absence (AUC ELA = 2.2 ± 0.5%ID.min, p < .001) and in the presence of BBB disruption (AUC FUS+ELA = 2.1 ± 0.5%ID.min, p < .001). AUC left was never significantly different from AUC right (p > .05), in any of the tested conditions. BBB integrity is not the rate limiting step for erlotinib delivery to the brain which is mainly governed by ABCmediated efflux. Efflux transport of erlotinib persisted despite BBB disruption. challenge for cancer research [3]. Improving the knowledge regarding the physiology of the BBB and how it controls brain permeation of anticancer drugs remains a critical need [4]. The BBB is created by the endothelial cells that form the walls of the brain microvessels [5]. The "physical barrier" component of the BBB results from tight junctions between adjacent endothelial cells [5]. This key feature of the BBB considerably reduces paracellular flux of solutes between the blood and the brain and forces most molecular traffic to

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