• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 1993

To evaluate the feasibility of transmucosal delivery of methionine enkephalin analog, [$D-Ala^2$]-me-thionine enkephalinamide (YAGFM), the influence of pH, temperature, ionic strength and initial peptide concentration on the physicochemical stability of YAGFM in aqueous buffered solutions were investigated using a stability-indicating HPLC method. The degradation of YAGFM followed the pseudo-first-order kinetics. From the pH-rate profile, the maximum stability of YAGFM was shown to be at the pH of about 5.0. The halflife for the degradation of YAGFM was found to be 181.3 days at pH 5.0 and $37^{\circ}C.$ Arrhenius plots of the data obtained at 25~$45^{\circ}C$ were reasonably linear with a correlation coefficient greater than 0.99, and the activation energy was calculated to be 8.9 kcal/mole. A higher ionic strength and/or a higher peptide concentration in buffered solutions retarded the degradation of YAGFM.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1994

In order to study systemic peptide delivery through the ocular route, the stabilities of methionine enkephalin (Met-Enk) and $[D-ala^2]-methionine$ enkephalinamide (YAGFM) in the corneal extracts of rabbits were investigated using reversed phase HPLC. Met-Enk was found to be hydrolyzed most rapidly in the corneal epithelium, but YAGFM was relatively stable. Aminopeptidases appeared to contribute over 60% to the degradation of Met-Enk and the degradation rate of Met-Enk followed the first order kinetics. The half-lives of Met-Enk in the extracts of the corneal epithelium and endothelium were 36 and 673 min, respectively. From the effects of enzyme inhibitors, it was found that the application of the mixture of amastatin, thimerosal and EDTA was very useful for the inhibition of peptide degradation.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.173-183
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• 1992

To study the feasibility of transmucosal delivery of $[D-ala^2]-methionine$ enkephalinamide (YAGFM), its enzymatic degradation and stabilization in various rabbit mucosal extracts were investigated by HPLC method. The degradation of YAGFM was observed to follow the first-order kinetics and the half-lives of YAGFM in the nasal, rectal and vaginal mucosal extracts were found to be 25.7, 3.0 and 7.8 hr, respectively. However, there was no significant difference in degradation rates of YAGFM between the mucosal and serosal extracts obtained from the same mucosal membrane. This finding suggests that even a synthetic enkephalin analog, which is designed to be resistent to aminopeptidases, needs to be fully protected from the enzymatic degradation in mucosal sites for the delivery of the analog through mucosal routes. To inhibit the degradation of YAGFM in various mucosal extracts, effects of enzyme inhibitors such as bestatin (BS), amastatin (AM), thiorphan (TP), thimerosal (TM) and EDTA, alone or in combination, and modified cyclodextrins were observed by assaying YAGFM staying intact during 24 hr-incubation at $37^{\circ}C$. It was found from the results that mixed inhibitors such as TM (0.5 mM)/EDTA (5 mM) or AM $(50{\mu}M)/TM$ (0.5 mM)/EDTA (5 mM) provided very useful means for the stabilization in various mucosal extracts. The latter was found to protect YAGFM from the degradation in the nasal, rectal, and vaginal mucosal extracts by 90.9, 90.4 and 91.3%, respectively, after 24 hr-incubation, suggesting almost complete inhibition of YAGFM-degrading enzymes present in the incubation mixture. However, BS $(50{\mu}M)$, AM 50 $(50{\mu}M)$ or TP$(50{\mu}M)$ alone did not reveal sufficient inhibition except TM (0.5 mM) or EDTA (5 mM). The adddition of $2-hydroxylpropyl-{\beta}-cyclodextrin$(10%) to the nasal mucosal extract, and $dimethyl-{\beta}-cyclodextrin$(10%) to the rectal and vaginal mucosal extracts reduced the first-order rate constants for the degradation of YAGFM by 5.8, 17.3 and 8.9 times, respectively, compared to those with no additive.