PROTEIN BINDING OF PHENOL RED, DIODRAST, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES IN PLASMA

The effect of isohydric hemodialysis on the binding and removal of uremic retention solutes

Background

There is growing evidence that the accumulation of protein- bound uremic retention solutes, such as indoxyl sulfate, p-cresyl sulfate and kynurenic acid, play a role in the accelerated cardiovascular disease seen in patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis. Protein-binding, presumably to albumin, renders these solutes poor-dialyzable.

We previously observed that the free fraction of indoxyl sulfate was markedly reduced at the end of hemodialysis. We hypothesized that solute binding might be pH-dependent and attributed the changes in free solute concentration to the higher serum pH observed at the end of standard hemodialysis with dialysis buffer bicarbonate concentration greater than 35 mmol/L. We observed that acidification of uremic plasma to pH 6 in vitro greatly increased the proportion of freeIS.

Methods

We tested our hypothesis by reducing the dialysate bicarbonate buffer concentration to 25 mmol/L for the initial half of the hemodialysis treatment (“isohydric dialysis”). Eight stable hemodialysis patients underwent “isohydric dialysis” for 90 minutes and then were switched to standard buffer (bicarbonate = 37mmol/L). A second dialysis, 2 days later, employed standard buffer throughout.

Results

We found a clearcut separation of blood pH and bicarbonate concentrations after 90 minutes of “isohydric dialysis” (pH = 7.37, bicarbonate = 22.4 mmol/L) and standard dialysis (pH = 7.49, bicarbonate = 29.0 mmol/L). Binding affinity varied widely among the 10 uremic retention solutes analyzed. Kynurenic acid (0.05 free), p-cresyl sulfate (0.12 free) and indoxyl sulfate (0.13 free) demonstrated the greatest degree of binding. Three solutes (indoxyl glucuronide, p-cresyl glucuronide, and phenyl glucuronide) were virtually unbound. Analysis of free and bound concentrations of uremic retention solutes confirmed our prediction that binding of solute is affected by pH. However, in a mixed models analysis, we found that the reduction in total uremic solute concentration during dialysis accounted for a greater proportion of the variation in free concentration, presumably an effect of saturation binding to albumin, than did the relatively small change in pH produced by isohydric dialysis. The effect of pH on binding appeared to be restricted to those solutes most highly protein-bound.

The solutes most tightly bound exhibited the lowest dialyzer clearances. An increase in dialyzer clearance during isohydric and standard dialyses was statistically significant only for kynurenic acid.

Conclusion

These findings provide evidence that the binding of uremic retention solutes is influenced by pH. The effect of reducing buffer bicarbonate concentration (“isohydric dialysis:”), though significant, was small but may be taken to suggest that further modification of dialysis technique that would expose blood to a greater decrease in pH would lead to a greater increase the free fraction of solute and enhance the efficacy of hemodialysis in the removal of highly protein-bound uremic retention solutes.

Human oral drugs absorption is correlated to their in vitro uptake by brush border membrane vesicles

Brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) were prepared from the rabbit small intestine for testing drug absorption potency through the enterocyte's apical membrane, which is an important compartment for drug oral absorption. Some modifications have been made to the traditional vesicle assay for adapting it to the 96-well plate format. The accumulation of 23 reference drugs was measured, and the data showed a good correlation with human oral absorption with a correlation coefficient R=0.853 (P<0.001), with the exception of a few false positive results. As the measured drug absorption may contain a membrane/protein binding component as well as drug uptake into vesicles, these two fractions can be discriminated by changing extravesicular osmolarity using different mannitol concentrations. This model can be applied for evaluating drug absorption rate/mechanisms, and helping drug selection in early drug research and development.

Physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for the renal clearance of iodopyracet and the interaction with probenecid in the dog

Plasma kinetics and renal excretion of iodopyracet (3.0 g, administered i.v.) with and without concomitant administration of probenecid were studied in the beagle dog. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that tubular secretion is the predominant route of excretion, and that secretion is inhibited by probenecid. A physiologically based kidney model is proposed comprising all the functional characteristics of the kidney that determine the excretion of iodopyracet, i.e. renal plasma flow, urine flow, protein binding, glomerular filtration, tubular secretion, and tubular accumulation. The model enabled an accurate description and analysis of the measured plasma levels and renal excretion rates. Renal clearance of iodopyracet is characterized by supply-limited elimination at low plasma concentrations and capacity-limited elimination at high plasma levels. The interaction with probenecid could be adequately described with the model by competitive inhibition of the carrier-mediated uptake of iodopyracet into the tubular cells. Model calculations showed that in the control experiments tubular secretion was accompanied by a pronounced accumulation of iodopyracet within the cells, which was clearly diminished in the presence of probenecid.