• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.361-369
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• 2020

Tofacitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor, was developed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Recently, it has been associated with an increased change in arthritis development in patients with diabetes. Herein, we evaluated the pharmacokinetics of tofacitinib after intravenous (10 mg/kg) and oral (20 mg/kg) administration to rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus and control rats. Following intravenous administration of tofacitinib to rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus, area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity of tofacitinib was significantly smaller (33.6%) than that of control rats. This might be due to the faster hepatic intrinsic clearance (112%) caused by an increase in the hepatic cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A1(23) and the faster hepatic blood flow rate in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus than in control rats. Following oral administration, area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity of tofacitinib was also significantly smaller (55.5%) in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus than that in control rats. This might be due to decreased absorption caused by the higher expression of P-glycoprotein and the faster intestinal metabolism caused by the higher expression of intestinal CYP3A1(23), which resulted in the decreased bioavailability of tofacitinib (33.0%) in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus. In summary, our findings indicate that diabetes mellitus affects the absorption and metabolism of tofacitinib, causing faster metabolism and decreased intestinal absorption in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.510-519
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• 2022

Tofacitinib, a Janus kinase 1 and 3 inhibitor, is mainly metabolized by CYP3A1/2 and CYP2C11 in the liver. The drug has been approved for the chronic treatment of severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. This study investigated the pharmacokinetics of tofacitinib in rats with dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis. After 1-min of intravenous infusion of tofacitinib (10 mg/kg), the area under the plasma concentration-time curves from time zero to time infinity (AUC) of tofacitinib significantly increased by 92.3%. The time-averaged total body clearance decreased significantly by 47.7% in DSS rats compared with control rats. After the oral administration of tofacitinib (20 mg/kg), the AUC increased by 85.5% in DSS rats. These results could be due to decreased intrinsic clearance of the drug caused by the reduction of CYP3A1/2 and CYP2C11 in the liver and intestine of DSS rats. In conclusion, ulcerative colitis inhibited CYP3A1/2 and CYP2C11 in the liver and intestines of DSS rats and slowed the metabolism of tofacitinib, resulting in increased plasma concentrations of tofacitinib in DSS rats.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.572-580
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• 2016

3-Deoxysappanchalcone (3-DSC) has been reported to possess anti-allergic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. In the present study, we investigated the effects of 3-DSC on the proliferation of human hair follicle dermal papilla cells (HDPCs) and mouse hair growth in vivo. A real-time cell analyzer system, luciferase assay, Western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were employed to measure the biochemical changes occurring in HDPCs in response to 3-DSC treatment. The effect of 3-DSC on hair growth in C57BL/6 mice was also examined. 3-DSC promoted the proliferation of HDPCs, similar to Tofacitinib, an inhibitor of janus-activated kinase (JAK). 3-DSC promoted phosphorylation of ${\beta}$-catenin and transcriptional activation of the T-cell factor. In addition, 3-DSC potentiated interleukin-6 (IL-6)-induced phosphorylation and subsequent transactivation of signal transducer and activator of transcription-3 (STAT3), thereby increasing the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase-4 (Cdk4), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). On the contrary, 3-DSC attenuated STAT6 mRNA expression and IL4-induced STAT6 phosphorylation in HDPCs. Finally, we observed that topical application of 3-DSC promoted the anagen phase of hair growth in C57BL/6 mice. 3-DSC stimulates hair growth possibly by inducing proliferation of follicular dermal papilla cells via modulation of $WNT/{\beta}$-catenin and STAT signaling.