Drug delivery of zinc to Barrett's metaplasia by oral administration to Barrett's esophagus patients.
Ther Deliv 2014;
5:257-64. [PMID:
24592952 DOI:
10.4155/tde.13.151]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Delivery of a pharmacologically effective drug dosage to a target tissue is critical. Barrett's epithelia are a unique challenge for drug delivery of orally administered zinc due to rapid transit down the esophageal lumen, incomplete absorptive differentiation of these epithelia, and the use of proton-pump inhibitor drugs abrogating intestinal uptake of supplemental zinc.
METHODS
Barrett's esophagus patients were administered oral zinc gluconate (26 mg zinc twice daily) for 14 days prior to biopsy procurement. Barrett's biopsies were analyzed for total zinc content by atomic absorption spectroscopy and by western immunoblot for cellular proteins known to be regulated by zinc.
RESULTS
Cellular levels of both the Znt-1 transport protein and the alpha isoform of PKC were over 50% lower in the zinc treatment group.
CONCLUSION
Oral zinc administration can result in effective delivery of zinc to Barrett's epithelia with resulting effects on intracellular signal transduction.
Collapse