Enzymatic prodrug degradation in the fasted and fed small intestine: In vitro studies and interindividual variability in human aspirates

The aim of the current study was (1) to develop an automation-based protocol for in vitro assessment of enzymatic drug stability at fasted- and fed-state intestinal conditions, (2) to characterize the inter-individual variability of drug degradation in fasted- and fed-state human intestinal fluids, and (3) to compare the obtained in vitro results to drug degradation in human intestinal fluids by taking variability into account. In human intestinal fluids, drug degradation displayed large inter-individual variability, with coefficients of variance generally ranging between 30 and 70 %. The effect of food on the inter-individual variability was highly dependent on the type of drug. The increase of pH in the range between 5.0 and 7.0 significantly accelerated the degradation rate of the studied drugs both in the in vitro and ex vivo experiments. In contrast, the increase of bile salt and phospholipid concentrations in the in vitro screen decreased strongly the degradation rate of the hydrophobic drugs. The developed automated in vitro screen mimicked relatively well the ex vivo degradation of all drugs in the fasted state, whereas in the fed state the degradation of only one of the drugs was adequately reproduced.

All-in-one stability indicating polysorbate 20 degradation root-cause analytics via UPLC-QDa

Polysorbates (PS) are the most frequently used surfactants to stabilize biologicals. Ironically, these excellent stabilizing non-ionic surfactants have inherent structural properties, which lead to instabilities of their own. Such PS degradation can be triggered by multiple root-causes, like chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis or oxidative degradation. This can on the one hand reduce the concentration of surface-active PS and on the other hand lead to the formation of unfavorable degradants, like poorly soluble free fatty acids (FFA), which may phase separate and form visible FFA particles. Due to the potential criticality of PS degradation in biopharmaceutical formulations, various analytics have been established in recent years not only to monitor the PS content but also to evaluate specific PS markers and crucial degradants. However, in most cases sample preparations and several analytical assays have to be conducted to obtain a comprehensive picture of potential PS degradation root-causes. Here we show a novel approach for PS degradation UPLC-QDa based root-cause analytics, which utilizes previously established analytics for (i) most relevant polysorbate 20 (PS20) esters, (ii) PS20 free fatty acids and (iii) a newly developed method for the evaluation of PS20 specific oxidation markers. Thereby, this triad of analytical methods uses the same sample preparation and detector, which reduces the overall necessary effort, time investment and sample volume. Furthermore, the innovative PS20 oxidation marker method allows to quantify specific concentrations of the determined markers by external calibration and possible perception of oxidative degradation processes prior to relevant losses of PS20 esters, which could serve as an early indication during formulation development. The applicability of this method set was verified using several PS20 containing stress samples, which cover the most relevant root-causes, including acidic and alkaline hydrolysis, enzyme mediated hydrolysis, oxidative AAPH stress and Fe2+/H2O2 mediated degradation as well as autoxidation via long-term storage at elevated temperatures. Overall, this analytical setup has shown to deliver in-depth data about PS20 degradation, which can be used to narrow down the causative stress without the necessity of fundamentally different methods. Therefore, it can be seen as all-in-one solution during sometimes troublesome development of biopharmaceutical formulations, that supports the elucidation of the PS degradation mechanism(s) and thus establish mitigation strategies.

New derivatives of the iridoid specioside from fungal biotransformation

Iridoids are widely found from species of Bignoniaceae family and exhibit several biological activities, such as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antitumor. Specioside is an iridoid found from Tabebuia species, mainly in Tabebuia aurea. Thus, here fungus-mediated biotransformation of the iridoid specioside was investigated by seven fungi. The fungus-mediated biotransformation reactions resulted in a total of nineteen different analogs by fungus Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus japonicus, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus niveus, Penicillium crustosum, and Thermoascus aurantiacus. Non-glycosylated specioside was the main metabolite observed. The other analogs were yielded from ester hydrolysis, hydroxylation, methylation, and hydrogenation reactions. The non-glycosylated specioside and coumaric acid were yielded by all fungi-mediated biotransformation. Thus, fungus applied in this study showed the ability to perform hydroxylation and glycosidic, as well as ester hydrolysis reactions from glycosylated iridoid. KEY POINTS: • The biotransformation of specioside by seven fungi yielded nineteen analogs. • The non-glycosylated specioside was the main analog obtained. • Ester hydrolysis, hydroxylation, methylation, and hydrogenation reactions were observe.

Local environment-dependent kinetics of ester hydrolysis revealed by direct 1H NMR measurement of degrading hydrogels

We have demonstrated the use of a simple ¹H NMR spectrometry-based method to directly measure the pseudo first-order hydrolytic cleavage rate constant (k_obs) of methacrylate-derived ester crosslinkers in hydrogels composed of PEG, dextran, carboxymethyl dextran (CM-dextran) and hyaluronic acid (HA). Using this technique, we systematically examined how the local environment in the hydrogel influenced the rate of ester hydrolysis. Within the formulations being studied, the esters in the crosslinked polymer network (gel state) degraded 1.8 times faster than esters of similar chemistry in soluble polymers (solution state). Furthermore, the value of k_obs was independent of the polymer concentration or the hydrogel network structure, although these parameters affected the swelling profiles in response to the hydrolytic degradation. On the other hand, the presence of the negatively charged carboxylate groups in the polymer chains decreased k_obs in gel state, while only minimally affecting k_obs in solution state. Hydrogels composed of negatively charged polymers (HA and CM-dextran) had a k_obs about 30% smaller than hydrogels composed of neutral polymers (dextran and PEG). The reported method provides a reliable tool to resolve conflicting views about hydrogel degradation, and to guide the rational design of degradable hydrogel. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Degradable hydrogels are widely used in biological applications. A common degradation mechanism of the crosslinked polymer is by hydrolytic cleavage. However, the hydrogel micro-milieu do affect the behavior of the hydrolysable bonds, for example esters. There have been several conflicting speculations on how hydrogel composition would affect the macroscopic degradation behavior. In this report, we simply, but innovatively applied ordinary ¹H NMR spectrometry-based method to probe the rate of ester cleavage in the native hydrogel milieu. We tried to answer whether these parameters will have direct influence on ester cleavage, or have indirect effect on the overall network disintegration behavior. This study provides quantitative evidences to assist theoretical modeling and to guide rational formulation design.

Multi-arm Avidin nano-construct for intra-cartilage delivery of small molecule drugs

Targeted drug delivery to joint tissues like cartilage remains a challenge that has prevented clinical translation of promising osteoarthritis (OA) drugs. Local intra-articular (IA) injections of drugs suffer from rapid clearance from the joint space and slow diffusive transport through the dense, avascular cartilage matrix comprised of negatively charged glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). Here we apply drug carriers that leverage electrostatic interactions with the tissue's high negative fixed charge density (FCD) for delivering small molecule drugs to cartilage cell and matrix sites. We demonstrate that a multi-arm cationic nano-construct of Avidin (mAv) with 28 sites for covalent drug conjugation can rapidly penetrate through the full thickness of cartilage in high concentration and have long intra-cartilage residence time in both healthy and arthritic cartilage via weak-reversible binding with negatively charged aggrecans. mAv's intra-cartilage mean uptake was found to be 112× and 33× the equilibration bath concentration in healthy and arthritic (50% GAG depleted) cartilage, respectively. mAv was conjugated with Dexamethasone (mAv-Dex), a broad-spectrum glucocorticoid, using a combination of hydrolysable ester linkers derived from succinic anhydride (SA), 3,3-dimethylglutaric anhydride (GA) and phthalic anhydride (PA) in 2:1:1 M ratio that enabled 50% drug release within 38.5 h followed by sustained release in therapeutic doses over 2 weeks. A single 10 μM low dose of controlled release mAv-Dex (2:1:1) effectively suppressed IL-1α-induced GAG loss, cell death and inflammatory response significantly better than unmodified Dex over 2 weeks in cartilage explant culture models of OA. With this multi-arm design, <1 μM Avidin was needed - a concentration which has been shown to be safe, preventing further GAG loss and cytotoxicity. A charge-based cartilage homing drug delivery platform like this can elicit disease modifying effects as well as facilitate long-term symptomatic pain and inflammation relief by enhancing tissue specificity and prolonging intra-cartilage residence time of OA drugs. This nano-construct thus has high translational potential for enabling intra-cartilage delivery of a broad array of small molecule OA drugs and their combinations to chondrocytes, enabling OA treatment with a single injection of low drug doses and eliminating toxicity issues associated with multiple high dose injections.

Ester coupling of ibuprofen in hydrogel matrix: A facile one-step strategy for controlled anti-inflammatory drug release

Ibuprofen (IBU) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) commonly used in the treatment of pain, fever and inflammation. However, the administration of IBU in its free carboxylic acid form is strongly dependent on its limited solubility in aqueous solution. This mandates for an increased drug concentration to reach the therapeutic window, and promotes the alternative use of IBU sodium salt, even if this latter form poses significant constraints in terms of tunable release due to its uncontrolled and rapid diffusion. A potential solution is represented by oral administration through physical encapsulation of ibuprofen in designed carriers, despite this route limits the application of this therapeutic agent. In this work, we propose the covalent tethering of ibuprofen to a hydrogel matrix via esterification reaction. Exploiting the cleavability of the ester bond under physiological conditions, we propose a controlled drug delivery system where the whole drug payload can be released, thus overcoming the questioned aspects of over-dosage and solubility-dependent administration. In particular, we tested the biological activity of cleaved ibuprofen in terms of cyclooxygenase inhibition, reporting that chemical tethering did not alter the efficiency of the NSAID. Moreover, due to the sol-gel transition of the hydrogel matrix, these ibuprofen-functionalized hydrogels could be used as injectable tools in several clinical scenarios, performing a localized drug release and opening advanced avenues for in situ treatments.

Development of efficient one-pot three-component assembly of trityl olmesartan medoxomil

We have elaborated a one-pot three-component assembly of trityl olmesartan medoxomil starting from commercially available ethyl 4-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)-2-propyl-1H-imidazole-5-carboxylate, 5-(4'-(bromomethyl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-2-yl)-1-trityl-1H-tetrazole and 4-(chloromethyl)-5-methyl-1,3-dioxol-2-one intermediates. The developed and optimized one-pot process provides 72-75% yield of trityl olmesartan medoxomil over three steps, which represents in average ca. 90% yield per synthetic step, on a 300 g scale. The process is conducted in simple fashion and provides highly pure trityl olmesartan medoxomil (up to 97.5% by HPLC), which can be easily converted to olmesartan medoxomil that fully complies with all ICH requirements. Furthermore, the described process significantly improves the primary process to trityl olmesartan medoxomil by drastic reduction of required unit operations and application of single reaction solvent through the reaction sequence. Moreover, the amount of used organic solvents was notably reduced. The developed process has provided solid bases for industrial production of trityl olmesartan medoxomil.

Site- and species-specific hydrolysis rates of cocaine

The hydroxide-catalyzed non-enzymatic hydrolysis of cocaine is quantified in terms of ten site- and species-specific rate constants in connection with also ten site- and species-specific acid-base equilibrium constants, comprising all the twelve coexisting species in solution. This characterization involves the major and minor decomposition pathways via benzoylecgonine and ecgonine methyl ester, respectively, leading to ecgonine, the final product. Hydrolysis has been found to be 10-330 times faster at site 2 than at site 3, depending on the ionization status of the amino moiety and the rest of the molecule. Nitrogen protonation accelerates the hydrolyses approximately ten times both at site 2 and site 3.

Site- and species-specific hydrolysis rates of heroin

The hydroxide-catalyzed non-enzymatic, simultaneous and consecutive hydrolyses of diacetylmorphine (DAM, heroin) are quantified in terms of 10 site- and species-specific rate constants in connection with also 10 site- and species-specific acid-base equilibrium constants, comprising all the 12 coexisting species in solution. This characterization involves the major and minor decomposition pathways via 6-acetylmorphine and 3-acetylmorphine, respectively, and morphine, the final product. Hydrolysis has been found to be 18-120 times faster at site 3 than at site 6, depending on the status of the amino group and the rest of the molecule. Nitrogen protonation accelerates the hydrolysis 5-6 times at site 3 and slightly less at site 6. Hydrolysis rate constants are interpreted in terms of intramolecular inductive effects and the concomitant local electron densities. Hydrolysis fraction, a new physico-chemical parameter is introduced and determined to quantify the contribution of the individual microspecies to the overall hydrolysis. Hydrolysis fractions are depicted as a function of pH.

Isothermal titration calorimetry determination of individual rate constants of trypsin catalytic activity

Determination of individual rate constants for enzyme-catalyzed reactions is central to the understanding of their mechanism of action and is commonly obtained by stopped-flow kinetic experiments. However, most natural substrates either do not fluoresce/absorb or lack a significant change in their spectra while reacting and, therefore, are frequently chemically modified to render adequate molecules for their spectroscopic detection. Here, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) was used to obtain Michaelis-Menten plots for the trypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of several substrates at different temperatures (278-318K): four spectrophotometrically blind lysine and arginine N-free esters, one N-substituted arginine ester, and one amide. A global fitting of these data provided the individual rate constants and activation energies for the acylation and deacylation reactions, and the ratio of the formation and dissociation rates of the enzyme-substrate complex, leading also to the corresponding free energies of activation. The results indicate that for lysine and arginine N-free esters deacylation is the rate-limiting step, but for the N-substituted ester and the amide acylation is the slowest step. It is shown that ITC is able to produce quality kinetic data and is particularly well suited for those enzymatic reactions that cannot be measured by absorption or fluorescence spectroscopy.

An improved kilogram-scale preparation of atorvastatin calcium

Background

If literature protocols are followed, conversion of an advanced ketal ester intermediate (available in kilogram quantities via a published Paal-Knorr synthesis) to cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin calcium is hampered by several process issues, particularly at the final stage where the hemi-calcium salt is obtained.

Results

We developed a high-yielding synthesis of atorvastatin calcium salt on 7 kg scale that affords >99.5% product purities by introducing the following key improvements: i. isolating the pure product of the ketal deprotection step as crystalline solid, and ii. using a convenient ethyl acetate extraction procedure to isolate the pure atorvastatin calcium at the ester hydrolysis and counter-ion exchange step.

Conclusion

The convenient and operationally simple conversion of an advanced intermediate of atorvastatin to the clinically used hemi-calcium salt form of the drug that is superior to the methods obtainable from the literature is now available to facilitate the production of atorvastatin calcium on industrial scale.

Graphical abstract

Analysis of claims of enhanced enzyme catalysis by inorganic colloidosomes

Ester hydrolysis reactions in the presence of enzymes have been reported to occur within inorganic colloidsomes that contain water in organic solvents. Analysis of reported data plots that were used to obtain values for Km and Vmax that led to those conclusions show that there is a linear dependence of the initial rates on the concentration of substrate, with no evidence of saturation that is necessary to establish binding of reactants and enzymes. The results do establish that there is no Michaelis-Menten complex formed between the substrates and enzymes. Therefore, any calculations of enzyme kinetic parameters from these data and the resulting conclusions should be reconsidered.