The effect of lipid and aqueous solubilities on flux of nicotinic acid esters from water through silicone membrane.

OBJECTIVE: The maximum fluxes (J(M)) of nicotinic acid esters (NAE) across silicone membranes from water (J(MPAQ)) have been measured to determine how well they correlate with J(M) of NAE across human skin from water in vitro (J(MHAQ)) and in vivo (J(MHAQ1)) and with J(M) of NAE across hairless mouse skin from water (J(MMAQ)). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The NAE were all commercially available. Solubilities in water (S(AQ)), isopropyl myristate (S(IPM)) and octanol (S(OCT)) were obtained from literature sources. J(MPAQ) were measured at saturation for all the esters except the methyl ester. In that case, flux was measured at a concentration (C) less than saturation (J(PAQ)) and converted to J(MPAQ) = (J(PAQ))(S(AQ)/C(AQ)). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: J(MPAQ) values predicted from the previously reported coefficients to the parameters in the Roberts-Sloan (RS) equation (PRE J(MPAQ)) were substantially lower than the experimental J(MPAQ) values (EXP J(MPAQ)) values obtained here. The EXP J(MPAQ) were incorporated into the previous J(MPAQ) database and new coefficients were obtained: x = -1.837; y = 0.742; z = 0.00435; r² = 0.86. Correlation of J(MPAQ) values with J(MHAQ), J(MHAQ1), and J(MMAQ) values show the same trend as the J(MPAQ) values. CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of the NAE n = 6 data into the previous n = 32 database for the permeation of the prodrugs through a silicone membrane from water (J(MPAQ)) greatly improved the fit of the n = 38 database to the RS equation: r² = 0.86 vs r² = 0.77. The correlation between log J(MHAQ) and log J(MPAQ) gave r² = 0.98. This suggests that J(MPAQ) values are good predictors of J(MHAQ) values.

A comparison of the fit of flux through hairless mouse skin from water data to three model equations.

Data for the delivery of total species containing parent drugs from water through hairless mouse skin by prodrugs, logJ(MMAQ), has been fitted to the Roberts-Sloan, RS, the Kasting-Smith-Cooper, KSC, and Magnusson-Anissimov-Cross-Roberts, MACR, equations. The RS model which contains a parameter for the dependence of flux on solubility in water, S(AQ), as well as solubility in the lipid isopropyl myristate, S(IPM), gave the best fit: logJ(MMAQ)=-2.30+0.575 logS(IPM)+0.425 logS(AQ)-0.0016MW, r(2)=0.903. The values for the coefficients to the parameters are quite similar to those obtained when the RS model was fit to flux of solutes from water through human skin, logJ(MHAQ). There was no trend in predicting the under or over-performance of prodrugs based on their fit to the RS model and whether they were more or less soluble than their parent drugs. There was an inverse dependence of logJ(MMAQ) on partition coefficients or permeability coefficients similar to that observed for logJ(MHAQ). The similarities in trends for results for logJ(MMAQ) and logJ(MHAQ) suggests that design directives obtained from mouse skin can be extended to design new prodrugs or select new drugs for delivery through human skin.

Research strategies for safety evaluation of nanomaterials. Part VI. Characterization of nanoscale particles for toxicological evaluation.

To properly assign mechanisms or causes for toxic effects of nanoscale materials, their properties and characteristics both outside and within the biological environment must be well understood. Scientists have many tools for studying the size, shape, and surface properties of particulates outside of the physiological environment; however, it is difficult to measure many of these same properties in situ without perturbing the environment, leading to spurious findings. Characterizing nanoparticle systems in situ can be further complicated by an organism's active clearance, defense, and/or immune responses. As toxicologists begin to examine nanomaterials in a systematic fashion, there is consensus that a series of guidelines or recommended practices is necessary for basic characterization of nanomaterials. These recommended practices should be developed jointly by physical scientists skilled in nano characterization and biological scientists experienced in toxicology research. In this article, basic nanoparticle characterization techniques are discussed, along with the some of the issues and implications associated with measuring nanoparticle properties and their interactions with biological systems. Recommendations regarding how best to approach nanomaterial characterization include using proper sampling and measurement techniques, forming multidisciplinary teams, and making measurements as close to the biological action point as possible.

Distinctive patterns of autoimmune response induced by different types of mineral oil.

Although mineral oils are generally considered nontoxic and have a long history of use in humans, the mineral oil Bayol F (incomplete Freund's adjuvant, IFA) and certain mineral oil components (squalene and n-hexadecane) induce lupus-related anti-nRNP/Sm or -Su autoantibodies in nonautoimmune mice. In the present study, we investigated whether medicinal mineral oils can induce other types of autoantibodies and whether structural features of hydrocarbons influence autoantibody specificity. Female 3-month-old BALB/c (16-45/group) mice each received an i.p. injection of pristane (C19), squalene (C30), IFA, three medicinal mineral oils (MO-F, MO-HT, MO-S), or PBS. Sera were tested for autoantibodies and immunoglobulin levels. Hydrocarbons were analyzed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. IFA contained mainly C15-C25 hydrocarbons, whereas MO-HT and MO-S contained C20-C40, and MO-F contained C15-C40. Pristane and n-hexadecane were found in IFA (0.17% and 0.10% w/v, respectively) and MOs (0.0026-0.027%). At 3 months, pristane and IFA induced mainly IgG2a, squalene IgG1, and MOs IgG3 and IgM in sera. Anti-cytoplasmic antibodies were common in mice treated with MO-F, as well as those treated with pristane, squalene, and IFA. Anti-ssDNA and -chromatin antibodies were higher in MO-F and MO-S than in untreated/PBS, squalene-, or IFA-treated mice, suggesting that there is variability in the induction of anti-nRNP/Sm versus -chromatin/DNA antibodies. The preferential induction of anti-chromatin/ssDNA antibodies without anti-nRNP/Sm/Su by MO-S and MO-F is consistent with the idea that different types of autoantibodies are regulated differently. Induction of autoantibodies by mineral oils considered nontoxic also may have pathogenetic implications in human autoimmune diseases.

Dermal and transdermal delivery: prodrugs.

Attempts to deliver drugs into and through the skin (dermal and transdermal delivery) have not been very successful because the physicochemical properties of drugs are often not optimal. Prodrugs can be used to optimize those physicochemical properties of drugs and optimize their delivery by transiently masking their polar functional groups. For a drug to cross the rate-limiting barrier to delivery (the stratum corneum) it must dissolve in and cross multiple lipid and aqueous phases within the stratum corneum. Prodrugs can be designed to exhibit increased lipid and aqueous solubilities resulting in increased delivery. In order to identify the optimal prodrugs, they must be evaluated as saturated solutions where their thermodynamic activities are maximal in the solution and in the skin. If prodrugs are evaluated at concentrations less than at saturation, inaccurate conclusions about the optimal physicochemical properties may result. Prodrugs must be designed to optimize both their lipid and aqueous solubilities to optimize their delivery into and through the skin.

A correlation of flux through a silicone membrane with flux through hairless mouse skin and human skin in vitro.

The maximum fluxes of 32 prodrugs and parabens through polydimethylsiloxane membranes from water (EXP log J(MPAQ)) have been correlated with the maximum flux of the same prodrugs and parabens through hairless mouse skin from water (EXP log J(MMAQ)): EXP log J(MMAQ)=0.608 EXP log J(MPAQ)-0.636, r(2)=0.743. The average of the absolute values for the differences between the EXP log J(MMAQ) and the log J(MMAQ) calculated from EXP log J(MPAQ) (Delta log J(MMAQ)) was 0.227 log units. Similarly the maximum fluxes of 11 unrelated permeants through human skin from water (EXP log J(MHAQ)) was correlated with the EXP log J(MPAQ) for the same permeants: EXP log J(MHAQ)=0.516 EXP log J(MPAQ)-0.922, r(2)=0.82 and Delta log J(MHAQ)=0.252 log units. Since the best fit of the databases for EXP log J(MPAQ), log J(MMAQ) and log J(MHAQ) was to the Roberts-Sloan (RS) model, and the dependency of RS on a balance in lipid and aqueous solubility for optimization of topical delivery has been established, the present correlation suggests that the flux through a silicone can be used to predict flux through mouse or human and that the physicochemical properties that lead to optimized flux through one membrane will lead to optimized flux through the others.

Design for optimized topical delivery: Prodrugs and a paradigm change.

In theory, topical delivery has substantial potential to treat local and some systemic disease states more effectively than systemic delivery. Unfortunately many, if not most, drug candidates for topical delivery lack the requisite physicochemical properties that would allow them to permeate the skin to a clinically useful extent. One way to overcome this obstacle to effective topical delivery is to make a transient derivative of the drug, a prodrug, with the correct physicochemical properties. But what are those correct properties and can the directives for the design of prodrugs be applied to the design of new drugs, their analogs or homologs? For some time increasing the lipid solubility (S (LIPID)) or its surrogate, the partition coefficient between a lipid (LIPID) and water (AQ) (K (LIPID:AQ)), has been the standard working paradigm for increasing permeation of the skin, and the permeability coefficient (P = distance/time) has been the quantitative measure of the result. However, even the earliest reports on non-prodrugs such as alcohols showed that working paradigm was incorrect and that P should not be the relevant measure of permeation. The shorter chain and more water soluble alcohols exhibiting lower K (LIPID:AQ) values gave the greater flux values (J = amount/area x time; the more clinically relevant measure of permeation), regardless of whether they were applied neat or in an aqueous vehicle, while P showed opposite trends for the two applications. Subsequently a large volume of work has shown that, for prodrugs and non-prodrug homologs or analogs alike, S (AQ) (not solubility in the vehicle, S (VEH)) as well as S (LIPID) should be optimized to give maximum flux from any vehicle, J (MVEH): a new working paradigm. The dependence of J (MVEH) on S (AQ) is independent of the vehicle so that S (AQ) as well as S (LIPID) are descriptors of the solubilizing capacity of the skin or S (M1) in Fick's law. The inverse dependence of J (or P) on molecular weight (MW) or volume (MV) remains. Here we review the literature that leads to the conclusion that a new working paradigm is necessary to explain the experimental data, and argue for its use in the design of new prodrugs or in the selection of candidate analogs or homologs for commercialization.

Topical delivery of a model phenolic drug: alkyloxycarbonyl prodrugs of acetaminophen.

PURPOSE: To determine whether the delivery of a phenolic parent drug by its alkyloxycarbonyl (AOC) prodrugs through hairless mouse skin would show similar dependencies on water and lipid solubilities that similar prodrugs of more polar heterocyclic amide and imide parent drugs have shown. METHODS: Flux through hairless mouse skin from suspensions in isopropyl myristate (J(MIPM)), solubilities in IPM (S(IPM)) and water (S(AQ)), and partition coefficients between isopropyl myristate (IPM) and pH 4.0 buffer (K(IPM:4.0)) were measured for two series of AOC derivatives of acetaminophen (APAP); their solubilities in pH 4.0 buffer (S4.0) were estimated from S(IPM)/K(IPM:4.0). Log J(MIPM) values were calculated from the n = 43 coefficients for the parameters in the transformed Potts-Guy (Roberts-Sloan) equation, and the average error of prediction (delta log J'(IPM)) was calculated. The J(MIPM), S(IPM), S4.0, and molecular weight (MW) data for this series and two other series were combined with the n = 43 database to give a n = 61 database, and new best fit coefficients were determined for the Roberts-Sloan equation: log J(MIPM) = x + y log S(IPM) + (1 - y) log S4.0 - z MW. RESULTS: All of the 4-AOC-APAP derivatives underperformed based on their predicted log J(MIPM) (delta log J'(MIPM) = 0.275 +/- 0.147 log units) and, although the two more water soluble members of this more lipid soluble series were more effective than APAP, they were only marginally so: <2 times. Addition of three new series to the n = 43 database for the Roberts-Sloan equation did not substantially change the coefficients to the parameters: x, y, z, and r2 = -0.322, 0.530, 0.00337 and 0.92, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The topical delivery of a model phenolic drug by its AOC prodrugs through hairless mouse skin from IPM shows the same dependence on S(IPM), S4.0, and MW as the delivery of polar heterocycles by their similar prodrugs.