Effects of coadministration of corn oil and ponazuril on serum and cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of ponazuril in horses.

BACKGROUND: Ponazuril is used for the treatment of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). Coadministration of ponazuril with oil could result in higher serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) concentrations of ponazuril. HYPOTHESIS: Coadministration of corn oil will result in higher serum and CSF concentrations of ponazuril than when ponazuril is administered alone. ANIMALS: Ten resident university-owned adult horses of either sex and >2 years of age. METHODS: Cohort study. Ponazuril oral paste (5 mg/kg BW; ponazuril treatment group (PON); n = 5), or ponazuril oral paste (5 mg/kg BW; ponazuril and oil treatment group (PONOIL; n = 5) coadministered with 2 oz of corn oil q24h for 21 days. Horses were treated once daily, for 21 days. Blood was collected on days 0, 7, 14, and 21 before dosing. In addition, CSF was collected on days 1, 7, 14, and 21. The concentration of ponazuril was determined in serum and CSF and results compared using repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: Coadministration of ponazuril with 2 oz of corn oil resulted in higher concentrations of ponazuril in serum (at steady state) than that found in horses given ponazuril alone (6.2 ± 0.9 mg/L versus 4.5 ± 1.0 mg/L; P = .004) (mean ± 1 SD). Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of ponazuril were also greater in horses that received ponazuril and oil (0.213 mg/L ± 0.04 versus 0.162 ± 0.04 mg/L) (P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Results suggest that coadministration of corn oil with ponazuril might enhance the effectiveness of treatment with ponazuril.

Central nervous system pharmacology of Baker's antifolate (NSC139105) in man.

Radiolabelled Baker's Antifolate (BAF) was administered to 6 patients undergoing surgical resection of intracerebral tumors. Levels of radioactivity in resected tumor and edematous brain adjacent to tumor were generally higher than levels in concurrent plasma samples and were generally comparable to levels in temporalis muscle. Levels in tumor cyst fluid were far lower than concurrent plasma levels and levels in surrounding tumor. Chromatography was performed on tumor from 2 patients and revealed that only a small proportion of the radioactivity represented unchanged BAF. The major metabolite present in tissues was 1 000 times less potent as an inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase than was BAF. Five patients had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sampled following administration of tracer doses of radiolabelled BAF. Radioactivity levels were far lower in CSF than in plasma. Levels of radioactivity in the CSF were also far lower than levels in tumor and brain samples from other patients and were slightly lower than tumor cyst fluid levels. Two patients had CSF collected after they received therapeutic doses of BAF. In these patients, both CSF and plasma were assayed using a dihydrofolate reductase inhibition assay. As with tracer dose studies, CSF concentrations of BAF were substantially lower than were concurrent plasma concentrations. Thus it appears that only very low concentrations of BAF are attainable in human CSF and intracerebral tumor, although a metabolite which is a very weak inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase attains high concentrations in tumor.

Pharmacology of a new triazine antifolate in mice, rats, dogs, and monkeys.

Triazinate (TZT), a potent inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase, was selected for detailed investigation to determine its mechanism of selective action as well as its metabolic fate in mice, rats, dogs, and monkeys. The serum disappearance of TZT in normal and tumor-bearing mice was similar, with a rapid tissue equilibration phase and a slower elimination phase. Serum disappearance in normal and tumor-bearing rats was 1.5 to 2.2 hr. Serum disappearance in dogs and monkeys was similar, with half-lives of 3 to 4 and 2 to 4 hr, respectively. Urinary excretion of TZT at 24 hr was only 5 to 6% of the injected dose in mice and rats; in contrast, the dogs excreted 60% of the injected dose in 8 hr. TZT accumulated to comparable degrees in the organs of rats and mice, with progressively lesser concentrations in liver, kidney, spleen, and brain. Dihydrofolate reductase activity became almost undectectable in all tissues studied within 15 min after drug adminsitration. An important difference in drug accumulation was in the ascites cells of tumor-bearing animals: in mice, the drug level was consistently lower in the L1210 cells than in the ascites fluid; in contrast, by 30 min after treatment with TZT the drug level in Walker 256 cells was 10-fold higher than the level in the ascites fluid. No evidence for drug metabolism was found in extracts of urine, feces, or organ tissues from either mice or rats. TZT and two related triazines were studied for their ability to accumulate in the cerbrospinal fluid of dogs after i.v. administration. TZT achieved a cerebrospinal fluid level of approximately 15% of the serum concentration at 1 hr; in contrast, the other two triazines reached maximum cerebrospinal fluid values of 1% at 1 hr.