Pharmacokinetics and toxicology of sparsomycin in beagle dogs.

Sparsomycin is a cytotoxic drug exhibiting a broad spectrum of in vitro activity against murine tumors and many tumor cell lines. It also appears to be a potent stimulator of the antitumor activity of cisplatin against L1210 leukemia in vivo. However, because of its toxicity, the antitumor activity of sparsomycin on murine tumors in vivo has been disappointing. The purpose of our study was to investigate the pharmacokinetics of this drug as well as the possible mechanisms that produce sparsomycin toxicity. Tests on beagle dogs revealed that about 60% of the drug is eliminated by metabolic clearance, while 40% is eliminated by the kidneys. After a single bolus injection of 0.1 mg/kg sparsomycin without narcosis, sparsomycin was eliminated with a t beta 1/2 of 0.6-0.7 h, the AUC being 0.32-0.38 mg.h.l-1, and the volume of distribution (Vd) 0.26 l/kg. In addition to being subject to glomerular filtration, sparsomycin is probably also actively excreted and actively reabsorbed by the renal tubuli. Sparsomycin itself may inhibit its active tubular excretion, thus resulting in a decrease in the drug's renal clearance and its accumulation in the plasma. Sparsomycin appeared to be toxic primarily in the liver, disturbing its function and the synthesis of plasma proteins. Two out of five dogs developed hemorrhagic diathesis due to hypofibrinogenemia and deficiency of other blood-coagulation factors. Sparsomycin was not toxic to the bone marrow.

Preclinical pharmacokinetics of the antitumor antibiotic deshydroxy-sparsomycin in beagle dogs.

Sparsomycin (Sm) is a well known inhibitor of protein synthesis with anticancer potential. In order to minimize toxicity of this drug and increase its activity, several analogues were synthesized. Deshydroxy-Sm (dSm) appeared to be a good candidate for further investigations because of its lower toxicity and significantly higher antitumor activity in several ascitic tumors in mice. Pharmacokinetic evaluation in beagle dogs was performed using either single iv bolus or continuous infusion administrations. The drug was eliminated with a terminal t1/2 beta of 0.8 +/- 0.08 hours (48 +/- 5 minutes). The mean volume of distribution was 0.4 +/- 0.06 l.kg-1. The mean total body clearance was 6.4 +/- 0.8 ml.min-1.kg-1. The drug is eliminated mainly by the kidneys (54%). Active tubular secretion and active tubular reabsorption of the drug were observed. The pharmacokinetics was linear until the lethal dose. The results of this study provided additional data useful in selection of potentially useful analogues for further preclinical studies.

Pharmacokinetics of the antitumor antibiotic n-pentyl-sparsomycin in beagle dogs.

N-pentyl-sparsomycin (PSm) is a lipophilic analogue of sparsomycin (Sm), which is a well known inhibitor of protein synthesis. This compound was selected for preclinical pharmacokinetic studies because of its high in vitro and in vivo antitumor activity. In this study in which the drug was evaluated in beagle dogs under anaesthesia, the drug concentrations in plasma, urine and bile samples were determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Plasma protein binding was approximately 54%. The mean t1/2 beta was 0.2 hours (12 minutes) and t1/2 tau was 0.75 +/- 0.1 hours (45 +/- 6 minutes). During continuous infusions up to 5.25 hours, the steady state was reached in 3 out of 6 experiments, suggesting that in some cases the real t1/2 tau was longer than measured. PSm was actively reabsorbed from the renal tubuli. This process was saturable at the higher doses. Tubular reabsorption played only a minor role in pharmacokinetics as most of the drug (67%) was eliminated by the non-renal clearance. The non-renal clearance was saturable at higher doses of PSm and was the reason for non-linearity of pharmacokinetics.