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. 2018;17(Suppl2):111-123.

Pharmacokinetics and Biodistribution of Pegylated Methotrexate after IV Administration to Mice

Gholamhossein Yousefi  1   2 , Alireza Shafaati  3 , Afshin Zarghi  3 , Seyed Mohsen Foroutan  4
Affiliations

Pharmacokinetics and Biodistribution of Pegylated Methotrexate after IV Administration to Mice

Gholamhossein Yousefi et al. Iran J Pharm Res. 2018.

Abstract

The efficacy of methotrexate (MTX) as an antimetabolite chemotherapeutic agent highly depends on its blood circulation half-life. In our previous study, different conjugates of MTX (MTX-PEG) were synthesized, their physicochemical properties were investigated and MTX-PEG5000 was finally selected as optimum drug-conjugate for further investigations. In the current work, first the stability of MTX-PEG5000 was studied at 37 °C and the results indicated its high stability in plasma (T1/2 = 144 h) and a relatively rapid degradation in tissue homogenate (T1/2 = 24 h). The study of protein binding pointed out that the conjugate was highly protein-bound (95%). The results of pharmacokinetic studies in mice indicated that MTX-PEG5000 had longer plasma distribution and elimination half-lives compared to free MTX (T1/2 α 9.16 min for MTX-PEG5000 versus 2.45 min for MTX and T1/2 β 88.44 for MTX-PEG5000 versus 24.33 min for MTX). Pharmacokinetic parameters also showed higher area under the curve (AUC) of conjugate compared to parent drug (12.33 mg.mL-1.min for MTX-PEG5000 versus 2.64 mg.mL-1.min for MTX). The biodistribution studies demonstrated that MTX-PEG5000 did not highly accumulate in liver and intestine and had a mild and balanced distribution to other organs. Also, the conjugate was measurable in tissues up to 48 h after injection and was detected in the brain, suggesting the possibility of delivering drug to brain tumors.

Keywords: Biodistribution; Methotrexate; Mice; Pegylation; Pharmacokinetics; Stability.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chromatogram of MTX in plasma 30 min after iv injection to mice (n = 3)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chromatogram of MTX-PEG5000 in plasma 30 min after iv injection to mice
Figure 3
Figure 3
Plasma concentration-time profile of MTX and MTX-PEG5000 after iv injection to mice (dose 70 mg/kg for both, n = 3, semi-log scale).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
MTX tissue distribution in mice in different times after iv injection to mice (dose 70 mg/kg, n = 3)
Figure 5
Figure 5
MTX-PEG5000 tissue distribution in mice in different times after iv injection (dose 70 mg/kg, n = 3)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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