Effects of lipophilicity and protein binding on the hepatocellular uptake and hepatic disposition of two anthracyclines, doxorubicin and iododoxorubicin

The anthracyclines, in particular doxorubicin (DOX), have been used for the intra-arterial locoregional therapy of liver tumours for over two decades. However, the results obtained with this form of therapy have been disappointing. It is widely recognised that DOX has a slow and limited tissue uptake, and we hypothesised that lipophilic analogues could be more suitable for locoregional administration. Using rat hepatocyte suspensions and the isolated rat liver, we examined the effects of lipophilicity, as determined from the octanol: buffer partition coefficient (Koct:buf), and protein binding of several anthracyclines on hepatocellular uptake. In particular, we compared DOX with 4'-iodo-4'-deoxy-doxorubicin (IDX), which differs only in the substitution of the daunosamine hydroxyl by an iodine molecule. Using a direct spectrofluorimetric method to evaluate cell uptake, we found that the influx rates correlated with the logarithm of Koct:buf and that IDX had the highest rate. However, the addition of bovine serum albumin (BSA) to the medium reduced the hepatocellular uptake of IDX more extensively than that of DOX such that the DOX uptake exceeded that of IDX with 4% BSA. Experiments in the isolated perfused rat liver confirmed these findings. We suggest that a trade-off of cellular uptake for reduced protein binding is desirable in the selection of drugs for intrahepatic administration. This may be accomplished by choosing anthracyclines with intermediate lipophilicity

The influence of pH on the interaction of lipophilic anthracyclines with bovine serum albumin. Quantitative characterization by measurement of fluorescence quenching

We have investigated the interaction of the lipophilic anthracycline 4′-iodo-4′-deoxydoxorubicin (IDX) and 4-demethoxy-daunorubicin (DDN) with bovine serum albumin by the quantitation of fluorescence quenching. The protein binding of IDX was extremely sensitive to the pH of the solution in which the complex was formed and paralleled the effect of pH on dimerization of the drug. The effect of pH on the protein binding and self-association of DDN was less extensive. Both compounds exhibited curvilinear Scatchard plots indicating apparent cooperativity in the binding process. Because of the self-association of the drugs in aqueous solution, we attempted to resolve this cooperativity terms of the preferential binding of the dimer to the acceptor. However, we found that similar Scatchard plots could be simulated by using slightly erroneous estimates of the fluorescence yield of the complex, rendering any such analysis inconclusive. Consequently, the relationship between acceptor concentration and the fraction of ligand bound was considered to be fitted adequately in terms of a single acceptor site per albumin molecule. The pH dependence of the association constants for bovine serum albumin was described best by the hydrophobic interaction of neutral drug monomer with a binding site with titratable affinity. We postulate that the pH-dependent binding of some anthracyclines with albumin may lead to their enhanced uptake, relative to that of non-target organs, into tumours with an acidotic extracellular milieu

The effects of aging and nutritional state on hypoxia-reoxygenation injury in the perfused rat liver

During liver transplantation, donor livers are subject to hypoxia and reoxygenation. Recently, because of a shortage of suitable donors, the livers of older donors have been used for transplantation. In this study, we examined the influence of aging and nutritional state on hepatic intracellular pH (pH;) and the susceptibility of the rat liver to hypoxia-reoxygen-ation injury. Perfused livers from fasted and fed, young (2-3 months) and aged (24-28 months) male Wistar rats were compared during 30 min of nitrogen hypoxia followed by 20 min of reoxygenation. Under control conditions, pH; was significantly lower and glucose release higher in livers from fed young rats (7.24±0.04, 3.4±1.8 pmol/min/g) than in those from fasted young (7.33±0.04, 0.0±1.3), fasted aged (7.32± 0.03, -0.1 ±0.5), and fed aged rats (7.29±0.06, 0.9±1.0). In all groups, pH; fell by ~0.15 U during hypoxia. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release from the livers of fed young livers was unaffected by hypoxia-reoxygen-ation as was that from the livers of fed aged rats, despite features that would be expected to predispose to injury (reduced glucosc output and more alkaline pH.). In contrast, livers from fasted young and aged rats had substantially increased LDH release and reduced bile flow during hypoxia. There were no age-related differences in these parameters, but, during reoxygenation, LDH release was significantly less in the aged livers. These results indicate that the livers of fed rats are resistant to hypoxia-reoxygenation injury and that aging does not increase the susceptibility of the liver to injury in the fasted state