• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.45-49
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• 2007

Dextran-5-aminosalicylic acid conjugate (dextran-5-ASA) was in vitro-evaluated as a polymeric colon-spe-cific prodrug of 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA). Chemical stability of dextran-5-ASA in the pH 1.2 or 6.8 buffer solutions was investigated at 37 for 6 hrs. The dextran backbone was not degraded and no 5-ASA release was detected. Moreover, dextran-5-ASA neither liberated 5-ASA in the homogenates of the small intestine of rats nor was transported across Caco-2 cell monolayers, suggesting no significant loss of dextran-5-ASA during transit through the upper intestine. Furthermore, incubation of dextran-5-ASA in 10% cecal contents of rats released about 37% and 55% of 5-ASA bound to dextran in 8 hr and 24 hr, respectively. While that with either esterase or dextranase failed to liberate 5-ASA from the polymeric prodrug, incubation of dextran-5-ASA with both esterases and dextranse released 5-ASA up to about 24% of 5-ASA bound to dextran. These results suggest that, after oral administration of dextran-5-ASA, the polymeric prodrug is delivered specifically to and releases 5-ASA in the large intestine, and reveal that the 5-ASA release by cleavage of the ester bond requires precedent depolymerization of the dextran backbone.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.161-169
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to enhance the oral bioavailability (BA) of zanamivir (ZMR) by increasing its intestinal permeability using permeation enhancers (PE). Four different classes of PEs (Labrasol$^{(R)}$, sodium cholate, sodium caprate, hydroxypropyl ${\beta}$-cyclodextrin) were investigated for their ability to enhance the permeation of ZMR across Caco-2 cell monolayers. The flux and $P_{app}$ of ZMR in the presence of sodium caprate (SC) was significantly higher than other PEs in comparison to control, and was selected for further investigation. All concentrations of SC (10-200 mM) demonstrated enhanced flux of ZMR in comparison to control. The highest flux (13 folds higher than control) was achieved for the formulation with highest SC concentration (200 mM). The relative BA of ZMR formulation containing SC (PO-SC) in plasma at a dose of 10 mg/kg following oral administration in rats was 317.65% in comparison to control formulation (PO-C). Besides, the $AUC_{0-24\;h}$ of ZMR in the lungs following oral administration of PO-SC was $125.22{\pm}27.25$ ng hr $ml^{-1}$ with a $C_{max}$ of $156.00{\pm}24.00$ ng/ml reached at $0.50{\pm}0.00$ h. But, there was no ZMR detected in the lungs following administration of control formulation (PO-C). The findings of this study indicated that the oral formulation PO-SC containing ZMR and SC was able to enhance the BA of ZMR in plasma to an appropriate amount that would make ZMR available in lungs at a concentration higher (>10 ng/ml) than the $IC_{50}$ concentration of influenza virus (0.64-7.9 ng/ml) to exert its therapeutic effect.