Abstract
To inhibit the enzymatic degradation of leucine enkephalin (Leu-Enk) and its synthetic analog. $[D-ala^2]$-leucine enkephalinamide (YAGFL), in the nasal, rectal and vaginal mucosal and serosal extracts of rabbits, effects of enzyme inhibitors such as amastatin (AM), puromycin (PM), thiorphan (TP), thimerosal (TM), EDTA, N-carboxymethyl-Phe-Leu (CPL), phenylethyl alcohol (PEA), phenylmercuric acetate (PMA), benzalkonium chloride (BC) and modified cyclodextrins, alone or in combination, were observed by assaying the pentapeptides staying intact during incubation. Mucosa extracts were prepared by exposing freshly-excised mucosal specimens mounted on Valia-Chien cells to isotonic phosphate buffer while stirring. The degradation of Leu-Enk and YAGFL followed the apparent first-order kinetics. The half-lives (mean) in the nasal, rectal and vaginal mucosal extracts were found to be 1.07, 0.33 and 1.14 hr for Leu-Enk, and 16.9, 6.2 and 6.8 hr for YAGFL, respectively. AM or PM, which is an aminopeptidase inhibitor, did not show a sufficient inhibition of Leu-Enk $(50\;{\mu}g/ml)$ degradation in all kinds of extracts. $Dimethyl-{\beta}-cyclodextrin\;(DM-{\beta}-CyD)$ decreased the degradation rate constants of Leu-Enk about 2 or 3 times, comparing with no additive. However, the use of mixed inhibitors of AM $(50\;{\mu}M)$/TM (0.25 mM)/EDTA (5 mM) resulted in a full stabilization of Leu-Enk by decreasing the degradation rate constants 67.3, 161.3 and 113.8 times far the nasal, rectal and vaginal mucosal extracts, respectively, comparing with no inhibitor. With mixed inhibitors, Leu-Enk remained intact more than 90% after 6 hr-incubation. In the stabilization of YAGFL, hM, TP or CPL alone showed little efffct, and some additives demonstrated a considerable inhibition of YAGFL degradation in the rank order of TM > BC > EDTA. However, the addition of mixed inhibitors such as TM (0.5 mM) and EDTA (5 mM) into the extracts protected YAGFL from the degradation by more than 85% even after 24 hr-incubation, suggesting almost complete inhibition of YAGFL degradation in the extract. On the other hand, $DM-{\beta}-CyD\;or\;hydroxypropyl-{\beta}-cyclodextrin$ (10%) were also found to retard enzymatic degradation rates of YAGFL markedly, and resulted in staying intact more than 80% of YAGFL in the nasal and vaginal mucosal extracts, and more than 60% in the rectal mucosal extract after 16 hr-incubation.
(College of Pharmacy, Dongduck Women's University)
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