Objective: To investigate the effect of Tween-80 in modulating rhodamine123 (R123) permeability across the intestinal membranes.
Methods: The permeability of R123 or fluorescein sodium (CF) across isolated rat intestinal membranes at the concentration of 5 microg/ml was evaluated using an in vitro diffusion chamber system, in the presence or absence of Tween-80 at different low concentrations. The concentration of R123 or CF in the receptor chamber was determined using fluorospectrophotometry.
Results: The intestinal membrane permeability of R123 gradually decreased from the jejunum to the ileum and then to the colon. The serosal-to-mucosal transport of R123 was much greater than its mucosal-to-serosal transport. In the presence of low concentrations of Tween-80, the absorptive transport of R123 was significantly increased while its secretory transport decreased depending on the concentration of Tween-80. However, Tween-80 at the experimental concentrations was found to obviously affect the CF transport across the intestinal membranes.
Conclusion: Low concentrations of Tween-80 may promote the absorption of P-gp-mediated drugs and therefore improve the oral bioavailability of these drugs.