Altered liver metabolism post-wean abolishes efficacy of vitamin D for breast cancer prevention in a mouse model.

Young women have increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, which may increase breast cancer incidence. Here, we assessed the anti-cancer efficacy of vitamin D in mouse models of young-onset breast cancer. In never-pregnant mice, vitamin D supplementation increased serum 25(OH)D and hepatic 1,25(OH)2D3, reduced tumor size, and associated with anti-tumor immunity. These anti-tumor effects were not replicated in a mouse model of postpartum breast cancer, where hepatic metabolism of vitamin D was suppressed post-wean, which resulted in deficient serum 25(OH)D and reduced hepatic 1,25(OH)2D3. Treatment with active 1,25(OH)2D3 induced hypercalcemia exclusively in post-wean mice, highlighting metabolic imbalance post-wean. RNAseq revealed suppressed CYP450 expression postpartum. In sum, we provide evidence that vitamin D anti-tumor activity is mediated through immunomodulatory mechanisms and is ineffective in the post-wean window due to altered hepatic metabolism. These findings have implications for suppressed xenobiotic metabolism in postpartum women beyond vitamin D.

Pharmacokinetics and Tolerability of Intraperitoneal Chloroprocaine After Fetal Extraction in Women Undergoing Cesarean Delivery.

BACKGROUND: Intraperitoneal chloroprocaine has been used during cesarean delivery to supplement suboptimal neuraxial anesthesia for decades. The short in vitro half-life of chloroprocaine (11-21 seconds) has been cited to support the safety of this approach. However, there are no data regarding the rate of absorption, representing patient drug exposure, through this route of administration. Accordingly, we designed a study to determine the in vivo half-life of intraperitoneal chloroprocaine and assess clinical tolerability. METHODS: We designed a single-center, prospective, cohort, multiple-dose escalation study of women 18 to 50 years of age undergoing cesarean delivery with spinal anesthesia. Chloroprocaine (40 mL) was administered after delivery of the newborn and before uterine closure. The first cohort (n = 5) received 1%, the second cohort (n = 5) received 2%, and the third cohort (n = 5) received 3% chloroprocaine solution. Maternal blood samples were obtained before administration and 1, 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes after dosing. The primary objective was to define the pharmacokinetic profile of intraperitoneal chloroprocaine, including in vivo half-life. The secondary objective was to evaluate tolerability through determination of peak plasma concentration and prospective assessment for local anesthetic systemic toxicity. RESULTS: The peak plasma concentration occurred 5 minutes after intraperitoneal administration in all 3 cohorts: 64.8 ng/mL (6.5 µg/kg), 28.7 ng/mL (2.9 µg/kg), and 799.2 ng/mL (79.9 µg/kg) for 1%, 2%, and 3% chloroprocaine, respectively. The in vivo half-life of chloroprocaine after intraperitoneal administration was estimated to be 5.3 minutes (95% confidence interval, 4.0-6.6). We did not detect clinical signs of local anesthetic systemic toxicity in any of the 3 cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: The in vivo half-life of intraperitoneal chloroprocaine (5.3 minutes) is more than an order of magnitude greater than the in vitro half-life (11-21 seconds). However, maximum plasma concentrations of chloroprocaine (C max range, 0.05-79.9 µg/kg) were not associated with local anesthetic systemic toxicity and remain well below our predefined safe level of exposure (970 µg/kg) and levels associated with clinical symptoms (2.6-2.9 mg/kg). Therefore, our study suggests that intraperitoneal chloroprocaine, in a dosage ≤1200 mg, administered after fetal extraction, is well tolerated during cesarean delivery.

ELQ-331 as a prototype for extremely durable chemoprotection against malaria.

BACKGROUND: The potential benefits of long-acting injectable chemoprotection (LAI-C) against malaria have been recently recognized, prompting a call for suitable candidate drugs to help meet this need. On the basis of its known pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic profiles after oral dosing, ELQ-331, a prodrug of the parasite mitochondrial electron transport inhibitor ELQ-300, was selected for study of pharmacokinetics and efficacy as LAI-C in mice. METHODS: Four trials were conducted in which mice were injected with a single intramuscular dose of ELQ-331 or other ELQ-300 prodrugs in sesame oil with 1.2% benzyl alcohol; the ELQ-300 content of the doses ranged from 2.5 to 30 mg/kg. Initial blood stage challenges with Plasmodium yoelii were used to establish the model, but the definitive study measure of efficacy was outcome after sporozoite challenge with a luciferase-expressing P. yoelii, assessed by whole-body live animal imaging. Snapshot determinations of plasma ELQ-300 concentration ([ELQ-300]) were made after all prodrug injections; after the highest dose of ELQ-331 (equivalent to 30 mg/kg ELQ-300), both [ELQ-331] and [ELQ-300] were measured at a series of timepoints from 6 h to 5½ months after injection. RESULTS: A single intramuscular injection of ELQ-331 outperformed four other ELQ-300 prodrugs and, at a dose equivalent to 30 mg/kg ELQ-300, protected mice against challenge with P. yoelii sporozoites for at least 4½ months. Pharmacokinetic evaluation revealed rapid and essentially complete conversion of ELQ-331 to ELQ-300, a rapidly achieved (< 6 h) and sustained (4-5 months) effective plasma ELQ-300 concentration, maximum ELQ-300 concentrations far below the estimated threshold for toxicity, and a distinctive ELQ-300 concentration versus time profile. Pharmacokinetic modeling indicates a high-capacity, slow-exchange tissue compartment which serves to accumulate and then slowly redistribute ELQ-300 into blood, and this property facilitates an extremely long period during which ELQ-300 concentration is sustained above a minimum fully-protective threshold (60-80 nM). CONCLUSIONS: Extrapolation of these results to humans predicts that ELQ-331 should be capable of meeting and far-exceeding currently published duration-of-effect goals for anti-malarial LAI-C. Furthermore, the distinctive pharmacokinetic profile of ELQ-300 after treatment with ELQ-331 may facilitate durable protection and enable protection for far longer than 3 months. These findings suggest that ELQ-331 warrants consideration as a leading prototype for LAI-C.

Analysis of tacrolimus and creatinine from a single dried blood spot using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.

Long term therapeutic drug monitoring and assessment of renal function are required in renal transplant recipients on immunosuppressant therapy such as tacrolimus. Dry blood spots (DBS) have been used successfully in the clinic for many years and offers a convenient, simple and non-invasive method for repeated blood tests. We developed and performed a preliminary validation of a method for the analysis of tacrolimus and creatinine from a single DBS using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS). Tacrolimus and creatinine were extracted from a 6mm punch with a mixture of methanol/acetonitrile containing ascomycin and deuterated creatinine as internal standards. A 10 µl aliquot of the extract was analyzed directly after dilution for creatinine with normal phase high performance liquid chromatography and multiple reaction monitoring. The remainder of the extract was processed and analyzed for tacrolimus. The lower limit of quantification for tacrolimus was 1 ng/ml with accuracy of 0.34% bias and precision (CV) of 11.1%. The precision ranged from 1.33% to 7.68% and accuracy from -4.44% to 11.6% bias for the intra- and inter-day analysis. The lower limit of quantification of creatinine was 0.01 mg/dL with precision of 7.94%. Accuracy was based on recovery of additional creatinine spiked into whole blood samples and ranged from -2.45% bias at 5 mg/dL to 3.75% bias at 0.5 mg/dL. Intra- and inter-day precision was from 3.48 to 4.11%. The assay was further validated with DBS prepared from pediatric renal transplant recipients. There was excellent correlation between the levels of tacrolimus and creatinine obtained from the clinical laboratory and the DBS method developed. After additional validation, this assay may have a significant impact on compliance with medication intake as well as potentially lowering the cost associated with intravenous blood draws in clinical laboratories.

Proteasome-dependent degradation of cytochromes P450 2E1 and 2B1 expressed in tetracycline-regulated HeLa cells.

The degradation of ethanol-inducible cytochrome P450 2E1 (CYP2E1) and phenobarbital-inducible cytochrome P450 2B1 (CYP2B1) expressed in tetracycline (Tc)-inducible HeLa cell lines was characterized. A steady-state pulse-chase analysis was used to determine a half-life of 3.8 h for CYP2E1 while the half-life of CYP2B1 was 2.3-fold greater in the same cell line. In contrast, NADPH cytochrome P450 reductase which is constitutively expressed in Tc-HeLa cells had a half-life of about 30 h. Lactacystin and other selective proteasome inhibitors including N-benzyloxycarbonyl-leucyl-leucyl-leucinal (MG132) and N-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-leucyl-L-leucyl-L-norvalinal (MG115) significantly inhibited both CYP2E1 and CYP2B1 degradation. The turnover of CYP2E1 was slightly inhibited by calpain inhibitors while CYP2B1 turnover was not altered. Inhibitors of lysosomal proteolysis had no effect on the degradation of either protein. Treatment of cells with brefeldin A did not alter the degradation of either P450 which suggested the degradation occurred in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Even in the presence of proteasome inhibitors high molecular weight ubiquitin conjugates were not observed. Mutagenesis of two putative ubiquitination sites (Lys 317 and 324) did not alter the degradation of CYP2E1. The role of ubiquitination in the degradation of CYP2E1 was also examined in a Chinese hamster mutant cell line E36ts20 that contains a thermolabile ubiquitin-activating enzyme (E1). The turnover of CYP2E1 was not significantly different at the nonpermissive temperature in the ts20 when compared to the control E36 cells. Furthermore, the addition of the hsp90 inhibitors geldanamycin, herbimycin, and radicicol had no effect on the turnover of CYP2E1, differentiating the degradation of CYP2E1 from other substrates for proteasome-dependent degradation.

Omega-hydroxylation of farnesol by mammalian cytochromes p450.

Studies have shown that mammalian cytochromes p450 participate in the metabolism of terpenes, yet their role in the biotransformation of farnesol, an endogenous 15-carbon isoprenol, is unknown. In this report, [(14)C]-farnesol was transformed to more polar metabolites by NADPH-supplemented mammalian microsomes. In experiments with microsomes isolated from acetone-treated animals, the production of one polar metabolite was induced, suggesting catalysis by CYP2E1. The metabolite was identified as (2E, 6E, 10E)-12-hydroxyfarnesol. In studies with purified CYP2E1, 12-hydroxyfarnesol was obtained as the major product of farnesol metabolism. Among a series of available human p450 enzymes, only CYP2C19 also produced 12-hydroxyfarnesol. However, in individual human microsomes, CYP2E1 was calculated to contribute up to 62% toward total 12-hydroxyfarnesol production, suggesting CYP2E1 as the major catalyst. Mammalian cells expressing CYP2E1 demonstrated further farnesol metabolism to alpha,omega-prenyl dicarboxylic acids. Since such acids were identified in animal urine, the data suggest that CYP2E1 could be an important regulator of farnesol homeostasis in vivo. In addition, CYP2E1-dependent 12-hydroxyfarnesol formation was inhibited by pharmacological alcohol levels. Given that farnesol is a signaling molecule implicated in the regulation of tissue and cell processes, the biological activity of ethanol may be mediated in part by interaction with CYP2E1-dependent farnesol metabolism.