• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.226-232
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• 2010

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of atrovasatatin on the pharmacokinetics of nicardipine after oral and intravenous administration of nicardipine to rats. Nicardipine was administered orally (12 mg/kg) or intravenously (i.v., 4 mg/kg) without or with oral administration of atrovasatatin (0.3 or 1.0 mg/kg) to rats. The effect of atorvastatin on the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) as well as CYP3A4 activity was also evaluated. Atorvastatin inhibited CYP3A4 enzyme activity in a concentration-dependent manner with 50% inhibition concentration ($IC_{50}$) of 48 ${\mu}M$. Compared to the controls (nicardipine alone), the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of nicardipine was significantly (1.0 mg/kg, p<0.05) greater by 16.8-45.4%, and the peak plasma concentration ($C_{max}$) was significantly (1.0 mg/kg, p<0.05) higher by 28.0% after oral administration of nicardipine with atorvastatin, respectively. Consequently, the relative bioavailability (R.B.) of nicardipine was increased by 1.17- to 1.45-fold and the absolute bioavailability (A.B.) of nicardipine with atrovasatatin was significantly greater by 16.7-20.9% compared to that of the controls (14.3%). Compared to the i.v. control, atrovasatatin did not significantly change pharmacokinetic parameters of i.v. administration nicardipine. The enhanced oral bioavailability of nicardipine by atorvastatin suggests that CYP3A subfamily-mediated metabolism were inhibited in the intestine and/or in the liver rather than P-gp-mediated efflux of nicardipine. Based on these results, modification of nicardipine of dosage regimen is required in the patients. Human studies are required to prove the above hypothesis.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.170-172
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• 2013

The pyrimidine nucleoside uridine has recently been reported to have a protective effect on cultured human corneal epithelial cells, in an animal model of dry eye and in patients. In this study, we investigate the pharmacokinetic profile of uridine in rabbits, following topical ocular (8 mg/eye), oral (450 mg/kg) and intravenous (100 mg/kg) administration. Blood and urine samples were serially taken, and uridine was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. No symptoms were noted in the animals after uridine treatment. Uridine was not detected in either plasma or urine after topical ocular administration, indicating no systemic exposure to uridine with this treatment route. Following a single intravenous dose, the plasma concentration of uridine showed a bi-exponential decay, with a rapid decline over 10 min, followed by a slow decay with a terminal half-life of $0.36{\pm}0.05$ h. Clearance and volume of distribution were $1.8{\pm}0.6$ L/h/kg and $0.58{\pm}0.32$ L/kg, respectively. The area under the plasma concentration-time curves (AUC) was $59.7{\pm}18.2{\mu}g{\cdot}hr/ml$, and urinary excretion up to 12 hr was ~7.7% of the dose. Plasma uridine reached a peak of $25.8{\pm}4.1{\mu}g/ml$ at $2.3{\pm}0.8$ hr after oral administration. The AUC was $79.0{\pm}13.9{\mu}g{\cdot}hr/ml$, representing ~29.4% of absolute bioavailability. About 1% of the oral dose was excreted in the urine. These results should prove useful in the design of future clinical and nonclinical studies conducted with uridine.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.16
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• pp.7089-7095
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• 2015

Clinical evidence shows that dual inhibition of kinases as well angiogenesis provides ideal therapeutic option in the treatment of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) than inhibiting either of these with the events separately. Although treatment with dual inhibitors has shown good clinical responses in patients with MTC, it has been associated with serious side effects. Some inhibitors are active agents for both angiogenesis or kinase activity. Owing to narrow therapeutic window of established inhibitors, the present study aims to identify high affinity dual inhibitors targeting RET and VEGFR2 respectively for kinase and angiogenesis activity. Established inhibitors like Vandetanib, Cabozantinib, Motesanib, PP121, RAF265 and Sunitinib served as query parent compounds for identification of structurally similar compounds by Tanimoto-based similarity searching with a threshold of 95% against the PubChem database. All the parent inhibitors and respective similar compounds were docked against RET and VEGFR2 in order to retrieve high affinity compounds with these two proteins. AGN-PC-0CUK9P PubCID: 59320403 a compound related to PPI21 showed almost equal affinity for RET and VEGFR2 and unlike other screened compounds with no apparent bias for either of the receptors. Further, AGNPC- 0CUK9P demonstrated appreciable interaction with both RET and VEGFR2 and superior kinase activity in addition to showed optimal ADMET properties and pharmacophore features. From our in silico investigation we suggest AGN-PC-0CUK9P as a superior dual inhibitor targeting RET and VEGFR2 with high efficacy which should be proposed for pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies for improved treatment of MTC.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.187-193
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• 1997

The in vivo and in vivo antibacterial activity of DW-116, a newly synthesized fluoroquinolone, were compared with those of other quinolones. DW-116 exhibited more potent antibacterial activity than rufloxacin and lower activity than ofloxacin and ciprofloxacin in in vivo assay But, DW-116 particularly showed strong activity against the family of staphylococci including methicillin-sensitive staphylococcus and its activity was more active than that of ciprofloxacin. The time-kill curve studies showed rapid bactericidal activity for DW-116. The post-antibiotic effect of DW-116 was observed between 0.66 and 5 hours. The therapeutic efficacy of DW-116 against respiratory infection with P. aeruginosa was as strong as that of ciprofloxacin and its effect against urinary tract in(traction with E. coli was more effective than rufloxacin. The excellent therapeutic efficacy of DW-116 against these local infections is due to its good pharmacokinetic profiles.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.163-168
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• 2003

Pharmacokinetics of eupatilin (an active components of $Stillen^{\circledR}$, a new antigastritic agent) were investigated after both intravenous and oral administration at a dose of 30mg/kg to rats. After intravenous administration, the plasma concentrations of unchanged eupatilin declined rapidly with a mean terminal half-life of 0.101 h. Eupatilin was eliminated fast in rats; the total body clearance was 121 mL/min/kg. Eupatilin was mainly metabolized in rats; the percentage of intravenous dose of eupatilin excreted in 24 h urine and feces as unchanged eupatilin was only 2.5 and 0.919％, respectively. Eupatilin was mainly metabolized to form its glucuronide conjugate; after intravenous administration, 15.9 and 51.7％ of intravenous dose was excreted in 24 h urine and feces, respectively, as eupatilin plus its glucuronide. After oral administration, the absolute bioavailability was only 3.86％ based on $AUC_{0-24h}$ of eupatilin plus its glucuronide. Approximately 68.5％ of oral dose was not absorbed from the entire gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, it could be concluded that the superior effect of eupatilin in experimental animal models of gastric ulcer and inflammatory bowel disease after oral administration could be due to the local action of eupatilin. Further pharmacokinetic studies to elucidate the local action of eupatilin are required.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.179-186
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• 2007

A simple, sensitive and selective liquid chromatographic/tandem mass spectrometric method (LC-MS/MS) was developed and validated for doxifluridine and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) quantification in dog heparinized plasma. Sample preparation was based on liquid-liquid extraction using a mixture of isopropanol/ethyl acetate (1/9 v/v) to extract doxifluridine, 5-FU and 5-chlorouracil (5-CU, an internal standard) from plasma. Chromatography was performed on a C-18 analytical column and the retention times were 2.7, 1.5 and 1.7 min for doxifluridine, 5-FU and 5-CU, respectively with shorter analysis time within 5 min than previously reported methods. The ionization was optimized using ESI negative mode and selectivity was achieved by tandem mass spectrometric analysis by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) using the transformations of m/z 244.8>107.6, 129.0>42.0 and 144.9>42.1 for doxifluridine, 5-FU and 5-CU, respectively. The achieved low limit of quantification was 20.0 ng/mL and the assay exhibited linear range of 20-2000 ng/mL ($R^2>0.99957$ for doxifluridine and $R^2>0.99857$ for 5-FU), using $100{\mu}L$ of plasma. Accuracy and precision of quality control samples for both doxifluridine and 5-FU met KFDA and FDA Guidance criteria of 15% for accuracy with coefficients of variation less than 15%. This method demonstrated adequate sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, precision and stability to support the simultaneous analysis of doxifluridine and 5-FU in dog plasma samples in pharmacokinetic and bioequivalence studies.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.9-18
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• 1993

Sugar spheres loaded with melatonin (MT) were coated with $Aquacoat^{\circledR}$ to control the release rate of MT over 8 hours. A zero-order release pattern over 8 hours was obtained with 20% coating on 8-10 mesh beads in USP basket dissolution studies. MT in 20% coated beads was quite stable at room temperature with less than 5% MT degraded during 6 months' storage. Dissolution profiles were also unchanged after 6 months. An oral preparation containing MT-loaded uncoated beads for immediate release and 20% coated beads with $Aquacoat^{\circledR}$ for controlled release over 8 hours was evaluated in six human subjects. When total 0.5 mg MT as low dose (immediate release portion of MT, 0.1 mg) was administered to four subjects, average peak plasma MT concentration was reached at about 600 pg/ml and maintained at about 10 pg/ml over 8 hours. Plasma MT concentration-time profiles were similar in shape to computer-simulated profiles. However, maximal plasma MT concentrations were three times greater compared to computer simulated curve. These results suggest that MT dose, ratio of immediate and controlled release MT, and pharmacokinetic parameters selected are adjusted to mimic endogenous MT concentration-time curve. In another study, 0.2 mg MT having 10% of immediate release portion and 80% controlled release portion produced plasma MT concentration-time curve which is more similar to endogenous profiles. A low bioavailability (<20%) may result from extensive first pass metabolism and remaining amounts of MT from controlled beads. A good correlation between plasma MT concentration and urinary excretion rate of 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (6-STMT), a major metabolite of MT was observed. As plasma MT concentration increased, urinary excretion rate of 6-STMT increased concomitantly. The linear relation between plasma MT and urinary excretion rate of 6-STMT was statistically significant. This result suggests that urinary 6-STMT may be used as an index of circadian rhythms of MT in humans.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2005

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was employed for the determination of bumetanide in human plasma. After addition of internal standard (IS, naproxen) and acidification of the plasma with 1 M hydrochloric acid, the drug and IS were extracted into dichloromethane. The organic phase was back-extracted into 1 M sodium bicarbonate solution and 50 ${\mu}l$ of the aqueous phase was injected onto a reversed-phase C18 column with a mobile phase consisting of methanol: water: glacial acetic acid = 65 : 35 : 1. The samples were detected utilizing a fluorescence detector (excitation wavelength 235 nm, emission wavelength 405 nm). The method was specific and validated with a lower limit of 5 ng/mL. Intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were acceptable for all quality control samples including the lower limit of quantification. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by analysis of plasma after oral administration of a single 2 mg dose to 24 healthy subjects. From the plasma bumetanide concentration vs. time curves, the mean AUC was $246.5{\pm}73.8\;ng{\cdot}hr/mL$ and $C_{max}$ of $132.1{\pm}40.9$ ng/mL reached 1.2 hr after administration. The mean biological half-life of burnet ani de was $1.1{\pm}0.2$hr. Based on the results, this simple and validated assay method could readily be used in any pharmacokinetic or bioequivalence studies using humans.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.461-465
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• 2005

A simple HPLC method with ultraviolet detection of nicardipine in human plasma was developed and validated. After drug extraction with solid phase extraction (SPE) method, chromatographic separation of nicardipine in plasma was achieved at $30^{\circ}C$ with a $C_{18}$ column and acetonitrile-0.02% phosphate buffer mixture (with 0.02% triethylamine, final pH 7.0), as mobile phase. Quantitative determination was performed by ultraviolet detection at 254 nm. The method was specific and validated with a limit of quantification of 5 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precision and accuracy were acceptable for all quality control samples including the lower limit of quantification. The applicability of the method was demonstrated by analysis of plasma after oral administration of a single 40 mg dose to 8 healthy subjects. From the plasma nicardipine concentration versus time curves, the mean $AUC_{t}$, was $134.04{\pm}59.72\;ng\;hr/mL$ and $C_{max}$ of $108.65{\pm}69.17\;ng/mL$ reached 1.5 hr after administration. The mean biological half-life of nicardipine was $3.93{\pm}0.82\;hr$. Based on the results, this simple and validated assay method could readily be used in any pharmacokinetic or bioequivalence studies using human.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.393-399
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• 2013

Asian populations are thought to receive significant health benefits from traditional diets rich in soybeans due to high isoflavone contents. However, available epidemiologic data only weakly support this hypothesis. The present study was carried out to assess the pharmacokinetics of isoflavones in South Korean women after ingestion of soy-based foods. Twenty-six healthy female volunteers (20-30 y old) consumed three different soy products (i.e., isogen, soymilk, and fermented soybeans) with different aglycone/glucoside ratios. Plasma and urine isoflavone concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after ingestion of one of the soy products. Pharmacokinetic parameters were determined using the WinNonlin program. The area under the curve (AUC) for plasma daidzein levels of the soymilk group ($2,101{\pm}352ng{\cdot}h/mL$) was significantly smaller than those of the isogen ($2,628{\pm}573ng{\cdot}h/mL$) and fermented soybean ($2,593{\pm}465ng{\cdot}h/mL$) groups. The maximum plasma concentration ($C_{max}$) of daidzein for the soymilk group ($231{\pm}44$ ng/mL) was significantly higher than those of the isogen ($160{\pm}32$ ng/mL) and fermented soybean ($195{\pm}35$ ng/mL) groups. The half-lives of daidzein and genistein in the soymilk group (5.9 and 5.6 h, respectively) were significantly shorter than those in the individuals given isogen (9.6 and 8.5 h, respectively) or fermented soybean (9.5 and 8.2 h, respectively). The urinary recovery rates of daidzein and genistein were 42% and 17% for the isogen group, 46% and 23% for the fermented soybean group, and 33% and 22% for the soymilk group. In conclusion, our data indicated that soy products containing high levels of isoflavone aglycone are more effective for maintaining plasma isoflavone concentrations. Additional dose-response, durational, and interventional studies are required to evaluate the ability of soy-based foods to increase the bioavailability of isoflavones that positively affect human health.