• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.125-131
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• 1992

The effects of domperidone, scopolamine butylbromide and cimetidine on the absorption and bioavailability of ciprofloxacin were studied in female rats. Ciprofloxacin was given in a single oral dose of 30 mg/kg to control group. Ciprofloxacin was concurrently administered with domperidone $(T_1\;group)$, scopolamine butylbromide $(T_2\;group)$, and cimetidine $(T_3\;group)$ to rats, respectively. Significantly changed pharmacokinetic parameters observed in $T_2$group when compared with control group were first-order absorption rate constant, $Ka(4.43{\pm}0.85$\;versus\;2.86{\pm}0.41\;hr^{-1},\;p<0.05)$, time needed to reach peak concentration, $T_{max}\;(32.27{\pm}2.46\;versus\;51.75{\pm}5.51\;min,\;p<0.05)$, area under the plasma concentration-time curve, AUC $(332{\pm}19\;versus\;477{\pm}27\;{\mu}g{\cdot}min/ml,\;p<0.05)$ and absolute bioavailability, Fabs $(60.6{\pm}3.6\;versus\;87.0{\pm}5.0%,\;p<0.05)$. On the other hand, domperidone and cimetidine did not significantly affect the absorption of ciprofloxacin. It is suggested that when scopolamine butylbromide is selected for clinical use, there is need for awareness of the reduction in absorption rate and the enhancement in absorption extent of ciprofloxacin.

• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2002

The tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine (its racemic form being atropine) and scopolamine are used medicinally as anticholinergic agents that act on the parasympathetic nerve system. Because they differ in their actions on the central nervous system, currently there is a 10-fold higher commercial demand for scopolamine, in the N-butylbromide form, than there is for hyoscyamine and atropine combined. Several solanaceous species have been used as the commercial sources of these alkaloids, but the scopolamine contents in these plants often are much lower than those of hyoscyamine. For this reason there has been long-standing interest in increasing the scopolamine contents of cultivated medicinal plants. Naturally occurring and artificial interspecific hybrids of Duboisia have high scopolamine contents and are cultivated as a commercial source of scopolamine in Australia and other countries. Anther culture combined with conventional interspecific hybridization also has been used to breed high scopolamine-containing plants in the genera Datura and Hyoscyamus, but without much success. The use of recombinant DNA technology for the manipulation of metabolic processes in cells promises to provide important contributions to basic science, agriculture, and medicine. In this review, I introduce on the enzymes and genes involved in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis and current progress in metabolic engineering approaches for tropane alkaloid, especially scopolamine, production.