Polysaccharide pharmacokinetics: amphotericin B arabinogalactan conjugate-a drug delivery system or a new pharmaceutical entity?

Biomacromolecules. 2010 Aug 9;11(8):1972-7. doi: 10.1021/bm100298r.

Abstract

Conjugation of poorly soluble drugs to polysaccharides affects their solubility, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics. The need for amphotericin B (AmB) analog with improved solubility and reduced toxicity is immense. Conjugation of AmB to arabinogalactan (AG) produced a highly soluble AmB-AG conjugate, with high and low molecular weight (H-M(w) and L-M(w)) fractions. Its similar antifungal activity to AmB poses the question whether AmB-AG is a prodrug of AmB or a novel pharmaceutical entity. We compared the PK of AmB-AG and AmB in rats. Upon AmB-AG administration, no free AmB was released. The half-lives and the volumes of distribution of AmB, H-M(w) and L-M(w) were 10.9, 8.8, and 1.5 h and 1630, 217, and 133 mL/kg, respectively. We conclude that PK of small molecules conjugated to polysaccharides is mainly dictated by the macromolecular moiety and shows molecular weight dependency. Our findings define AmB-AG as a novel pharmaceutical entity with high clinical potential.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amphotericin B / chemistry*
  • Animals
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Drug Delivery Systems
  • Galactans / chemistry*
  • Half-Life
  • Male
  • Polysaccharides / pharmacokinetics*
  • Rats
  • Rats, Wistar
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared

Substances

  • Galactans
  • Polysaccharides
  • Amphotericin B
  • arabinogalactan