19F NMR spectrometric determination of the partition coefficients of some fluorinated psychotropic drugs between phosphatidylcholine bilayer vesicles and water

Lipophilicity Modulations by Fluorination Correlate with Membrane Partitioning

Bioactive compounds generally need to cross membranes to arrive at their site of action. The octanol-water partition coefficient (lipophilicity, logPOW ) has proven to be an excellent proxy for membrane permeability. In modern drug discovery, logPOW and bioactivity are optimized simultaneously, for which fluorination is one of the relevant strategies. The question arises as to which extent the often subtle logP modifications resulting from different aliphatic fluorine-motif introductions also lead to concomitant membrane permeability changes, given the difference in molecular environment between octanol and (anisotropic) membranes. It was found that for a given compound class, there is excellent correlation between logPOW values with the corresponding membrane molar partitioning coefficients (logKp ); a study enabled by novel solid-state 19 F NMR MAS methodology using lipid vesicles. Our results show that the factors that cause modulation of octanol-water partition coefficients similarly affect membrane permeability.

Reverse-dialysis can be misleading for drug release studies in emulsions as demonstrated by NMR dilution experiments

Emulsions are an important class of carriers for the delivery of hydrophobic drugs. While knowledge of drug release kinetics is critical to optimizing drug carrying emulsions, there remain many open questions about the validity of standard characterization methods such as the commonly used reverse-dialysis. In this paper, the kinetic parameters of isoflurane release in perfluorotributylamine emulsions determined from both reverse-dialysis and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) dilution experiments are compared. The NMR-determined kinetic parameters of isoflurane release were found to be approximately seven orders of magnitude larger than those determined from conventional reverse-dialysis and were also shown to be consistent with prior in vivo observations of the anesthetization of rats.

Fluoroquinolone-Transition Metal Complexes: A Strategy to Overcome Bacterial Resistance

Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are antibiotics widely used in the clinical practice due to their large spectrum of action against Gram-negative and some Gram-positive bacteria. Nevertheless, the misuse and overuse of these antibiotics has triggered the development of bacterial resistance mechanisms. One of the strategies to circumvent this problem is the complexation of FQs with transition metal ions, known as metalloantibiotics, which can promote different activity and enhanced pharmacological behaviour. Here, we discuss the stability of FQ metalloantibiotics and their possible translocation pathways. The main goal of the present review is to frame the present knowledge on the conjunction of biophysical and biological tools that can help to unravel the antibacterial action of FQ metalloantibiotics. An additional goal is to shed light on the studies that must be accomplished to ensure stability and viability of such metalloantibiotics. Potentiometric, spectroscopic, microscopic, microbiological, and computational techniques are surveyed. Stability and partition constants, interaction with membrane porins and elucidation of their role in the influx, determination of the antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant (MDR) clinical isolates, elucidation of the mechanism of action, and toxicity assays are described for FQ metalloantibiotics.

19F Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometric Determination of the Partition Coefficients of Flutamide and Nilutamide (Antiprostate Cancer Drugs) in a Lipid Nano-Emulsion and Prediction of Its Encapsulation Efficiency for the Drugs

To design a useful lipid drug carrier having a high encapsulation efficiency (EE%) for the antiprostate cancer drugs flutamide (FT) and nilutamide (NT), a lipid nano-emulsion (LNE) was prepared with soybean oil (SO), phosphatidylcholine (PC), and sodium palmitate, and the partition coefficients (K _ps) of the drugs for the LNE were determined by ¹⁹F nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometry. The ¹⁹F NMR signal of the trifluoromethyl group of both drugs showed a downfield shift from an internal standard (trifluoroethanol) and broadening according to the increase in the lipid concentration due to their interaction with LNE particles. The difference in the chemical shift (Δδ) of each drug caused by the addition of LNE was measured under different amounts of LNE, and the K _p values were calculated from the Δδ values. The results showed that FT has higher lipophilicity than NT. The total lipid concentration (SO + PC) required to encapsulate each drug into LNE with an EE% of more than 95% was calculated from the K _p values as 93.3 and 189.9 mmol/L for FT and NT, respectively. For an LNE prepared with the total lipid concentration of 215 mmol/L, the predicted EE% values were 98 and 96% for FT and NT, respectively, while the experimental EE% values determined by a centrifugation method were approximately 99% for both drugs. Thus, the ¹⁹F NMR spectrometric method is a useful technique to obtain the K _p values of fluorinated drugs and thereby predict the theoretical lipid concentrations and prepare LNEs with high EE% values.

Interactions of a non-fluorescent fluoroquinolone with biological membrane models: A multi-technique approach

Fluoroquinolones are antibiotics which act by penetrating into bacterial cells and inhibiting enzymes related to DNA replication, and metal complexes of these drugs have recently been investigated as one approach to counteracting bacterial resistance. In this work, we apply a multi-technique approach to studying the partition coefficient (Kp) for the non-fluorescent third-generation fluoroquinolone sparfloxacin or its copper-complex with lipid membrane models of Gram-negative bacteria. The techniques investigated are UV-vis absorption and (19)F NMR spectroscopies together with quenching of a fluorescent probe present in the lipids (using steady-state and time-resolved methods). (19)F NMR spectroscopy has previously been used to determine the Kp values of fluorinated drugs but in the case of sparfloxacin did not yield useful data. However, similar Kp values for sparfloxacin or its copper-complex were obtained for the absorption and fluorescence quenching methods confirming the usefulness of a multi-technique approach. The Kp values measured for sparfloxacin were significantly higher than those found for other fluoroquinolones. In addition, similar Kp values were found for sparfloxacin and copper-complex suggesting that in contrast to other fluoroquinolones hydrophobic diffusion occurs readily for both of these molecules.

NMR of molecules interacting with lipids in small unilamellar vesicles

Detailed characterization of protein, peptide or drug interactions with natural membrane is still a challenge. This review focuses on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for the analysis of interaction of molecules with small unilamellar vesicles (SUV). These phospholipid vesicles are often used as model membranes for fluorescence or circular dichroism experiments. The various NMR approaches for studying molecule-lipid association are reviewed. After a brief survey of the SUV characterization, the use of heteronuclear NMR (phosphorous, carbon, fluorine) is described. Applications of proton NMR through transferred nuclear Overhauser effect to perform structural determination of peptide are presented. Special care is finally given to the influence of the kinetic of the interactions for the proton NMR of bound molecules in SUV, which can constitute a good model for the study of dynamical processes at the membrane surface.

(19)F NMR spectroscopic characterization of the interaction of niflumic acid with human serum albumin

The interaction of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, niflumic acid (NFA), with human serum albumin (HSA) has been investigated by (19)F nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A (19)F NMR spectrum of NFA in a buffered (pH 7.4) solution of NaCl (0.1 mol L(-1)) contained a single sharp signal of its CF(3) group 14.33 ppm from the internal reference 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol. Addition of 0.6 mmol L(-1) HSA to the NFA buffer solution caused splitting of the CF(3) signal into two broadened signals, shifted to the lower fields of 14.56 and 15.06 ppm, with an approximate intensity ratio of 1:3. Denaturation of HSA by addition of 3.0 mol L(-1) guanidine hydrochloride (GU) restored a single sharp signal of CF(3) at 14.38 ppm, indicating complete liberation of NFA from HSA as a result of its denaturation. These results suggest that the binding is reversible and occurs in at least two HSA regions. Competitive (19)F NMR experiments using warfarin, dansyl-L: -asparagine, and benzocaine (site I ligands), and L: -tryptophan and ibuprofen (site II ligands) revealed that NFA binds to site I at two different regions, Ia and Ib, in the ratio 1:3. By use of (19)F NMR with NFA as an (19)F NMR probe the nonfluorinated site I-binding drugs sulfobromophthalein and iophenoxic acid were also found to bind sites Ia and Ib, respectively. These results illustrate the usefulness and convenience of (19)F NMR for investigation of the HSA binding of both fluorinated and nonfluorinated drugs.

19F NMR spectroscopic study on the binding of triflupromazine to bovine and human serum albumins

The 19F NMR spectrum of triflupromazine hydrochloride (TFZ) in a buffer solution (pH 6.8) showed a single sharp signal of the TFZ CF3 group at 13.5 ppm from the external trifluoroacetic acid. The addition of 1 mM HSA or BSA to the sample solution caused a split of the CF3 signal into two broadened signals shifted to slightly lower (0.2 ppm) and higher (0.7 ppm) fields, respectively, from the original position. Denaturation of the albumins by guanidine hydrochloride (3M) restored the two broadened signals to a slightly broadened single signal, indicating that TFZ has at least two binding sites on HSA and BSA, respectively. From the competitive binding 19F NMR experiments using Warfarin (Site-I ligand), l-tryptophan (Site-II ligand), NaCl, and oleate, the signal at high field was assigned to the TFZ bound to Site II. Comparison of the signal intensity revealed that the affinity of TFZ for Site II on HSA was considerably higher than that on BSA. The low-field signal could be identified as a weight-averaged signal between nonspecifically bound TFZ to HSA (BSA) and free TFZ in the water phase. In the presence of physiological concentrations of NaCl, major binding of TFZ to HSA and BSA was considered to be nonspecific. The present work indicates that 19F NMR is very useful for obtaining important detailed information regarding the binding of fluorinated drugs to serum albumins.