Prodrug behaviour of nicotinoylmorphine esters

Simultaneous determination of nalbuphine and its prodrug sebacoly dinalbuphine ester in human plasma by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry and its application to pharmacokinetic study in humans

A rapid, simple, sensitive and selective ultraperformance liquid chromatography-tandem spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the determination of nalbuphine and its prodrug sebacoly dinalbuphine ester (SDE) was developed and validated in human plasma. The sample pretreatment involves basification and iterative liquid-liquid extraction with ethyl-ether-dichloromethane (7:3, v/v) solution, followed by LC separation and positive electrospray ionization (ESI) API-3000 mass spectrometry detection. The chromatography was on a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH HILIC column (2.1 × 100 mm, 1.7 µm). The mobile phase was composed of acetonitrile and water (83:17, v/v) that contained 0.2% formic acid and 4 mm ammonium formate at a flow rate of 0.25 mL/min. Ethylmorphine and naloxine were selected as the SDE and nalbuphine internal standard (IS), respectively. The calibration curve for both was linear over the range from 0.05 to 20 ng/mL, with correlation coefficients ≥0.995. The lower limit of quantification was set at 0.05 ng/mL. The intra- and inter-day precision values for nalbuphine and SDE were acceptable as per FDA guidelines. The method was applied successfully to determine nalbuphine concentration in human plasma samples obtained from four Taiwanese volunteers receiving intramuscularly administration of sebacoyl dinalbuphine ester. The method is sensitive, selective and directly applicable to human pharmacokinetic studies involving nalbuphine.

Submicron lipid emulsion as a drug delivery system for nalbuphine and its prodrugs

This study investigates the submicron lipid emulsion as a potential parenteral drug delivery system for nalbuphine and its ester prodrugs. Submicron emulsions were prepared using egg phospholipid as the main emulsifier, various co-emulsifiers were also incorporated, including Brij 30, Brij 98, and stearylamine. Squalene as the oil phase formed stable emulsions with small particles. Drug release was affected by incorporating various co-emulsifiers and drugs with various lipophilicity. The loading of nalbuphine into lipid emulsions resulted in the slower and sustained release of nalbuphine. Lipid emulsions containing Brij 98 could further enhance the release of prodrugs as compared to the aqueous solution (control) especially for nalbuphine enanthate (NAE). Hemolysis caused by the interaction between erythrocytes and lipid emulsions was investigated. Brij 30 and Brij 98 could shield the hemolytic activity of phospholipids in the oil/water interface, decreasing the acute toxicological potential of the emulsions. The in vivo analgesic activity of various emulsions was examined by a cold ethanol tail-flick test. The analgesic duration and potency were significantly increased by incorporating nalbuphine and NAE into Brij 98-containing emulsions. There was no need for nalbuphine benzoate (NAB) to show a controlled delivery manner by encapsulating into emulsions, since NAB itself could prolong the analgesic duration of nalbuphine due to the slow enzyme degradation. The in vivo analgesic activity correlated well to the profiles of in vivo pharmacokinetic profiles. The study demonstrates the feasibility of using submicron lipid emulsion as the parenteral drug delivery system for nalbuphine and its prodrugs.

The antinociceptive effect of nalbuphine and its long-acting esters in rats

A long-acting analgesic is particularly desirable in patients with long-lasting pain. In this study, we evaluated the antinociceptive effect and duration of action of three nalbuphine esters-nalbuphine propionate, enanthate, and decanoate-and observed whether these esters had a long-acting effect. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 12 in each group) were used. Two studies were performed. In Study 1, we evaluated the antinociceptive effect of IM nalbuphine HCl with dosages of 0.25, 1.25, 2.5, 25, and 250 micro mol/kg. In Study 2, we evaluated the antinociceptive effects of IM nalbuphine base and esters with a dosage of 25 micro mol/kg. After 2.5, 25, and 250 micro mol/kg IM injections, we found that nalbuphine HCl produced a dose-related antinociceptive effect with durations of action of 1.5, 2, and 4 h, respectively. After a 25 micro mol/kg IM injection, the durations of action of the nalbuphine esters, nalbuphine propionate, enanthate, and decanoate were 5, 30, and 60 h, respectively. We conclude that, on an equimolar basis, nalbuphine esters produce relatively longer durations of action than nalbuphine HCl.

High-performance liquid chromatographic method for the simultaneous determination of nalbuphine and its prodrug, sebacoyl dinalbuphine ester, in dog plasma and application to pharmacokinetic studies in dogs

For the determination of nalbuphine and its long acting prodrug, sebacoyl dinalbuphine ester (SDN), in biological samples, a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method using dual detectors was established. Ultraviolet and fluorescence detectors were connected in series for determining SDN and nalbuphine, respectively. The two analytes and internal standard were extracted from plasma by alkaline liquid-liquid extraction using n-hexane-isoamyl alcohol (9:1, v/v). The calibration curve for nalbuphine was linear over the range from 10 to 2,500 ng/ml, while the range was 25 to 2,500 ng/ml for SDN. The within- and between-day precision and accuracy were all within 10% for both nalbuphine and SDN over these concentrations. The method was applied successfully to a pharmacokinetic study of SDN administered at 20 mg/kg to two beagle dogs. Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that SDN followed a linear one-compartment model with an elimination half-life of 74.7 min. Formation of nalbuphine after intravenous administration of SDN was observed in the first time point sample (5 min). These results indicate that SDN is rapidly metabolized to its active moiety, nalbuphine, in dogs and no other metabolites are detected in plasma.

Determination of morphine 3-esters in rabbit plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the quantitation of the morphine 3-esters 1[3-(2, 2-dimethylvaleroyl)-morphine (A), 3-(2-phenylbenzoyl)-morphine (B) and 3-(2,2-diphenylpropionyl)-morphine (C)] in rabbit plasma is described. Sample preparation was based on reversed-phase solid-phase extraction. The compounds were separated on C(18) reversed-phase analytical columns and then determined by ultraviolet detection. The recovery from plasma was 78.7 +/- 7.4%, 69.1 +/- 6.9% and 75 +/- 7.2% (mean +/- SD) for A, B, and C, respectively. The present method enabled the detection limit of 0.2, 0.2 and 0.1 ng and quantification limit of 20, 10 and 10 ng/ml for A, B and C, respectively. The developed method was used for determination of the plasmakinetics of these morphine 3-esters in rabbits.

Synthesis, opioid receptor affinity, and enzymatic hydrolysis of sterically hindered morphine 3-esters

With the intention of preparing prodrugs, 10 morphine 3-esters were synthesized and evaluated in vitro for opioid receptor binding and enzymatic hydrolysis. The results of binding assays performed on homogenates of guinea pig brain demonstrate a loss in affinity of morphine to mu-, delta-, and kappa-receptors by esterification at the 3-position. The conversion of the esters to morphine was determined in human plasma by HPLC analysis. The half-lives of hydrolysis ranged from 0.5 to > 300 h. The investigations indicate that esterification at the 3-position results in morphine prodrugs with variable hydrolytic stability. Sterically hindered morphine 3-esters may be a promising approach to manipulate the rate of release of morphine.

Orally active carbamate prodrugs of the selective dopamine agonist N-0437: in-vivo activities in the 6-OHDA turning model and in-vitro activities

The in-vivo activities of eight carbamate prodrugs of the D2-agonist N-0437 were determined by examining the effects of the prodrugs, after their oral administration in rats with unilateral 6-OHDA lesions of the striatum. The resulting contralateral turning was used as an index of the activity of the compounds. A comparison of the area under the curve of the time-effect curves of the prodrugs, revealed a significantly improved duration of action compared with N-0437 during the period 11-15 h after administration, for the propylcarbamate and the dimethoxyphenylcarbamate derivatives. The 2,4-dimethylphenylcarbamate showed a significantly enhanced turning behaviour over the whole 15 h time interval in comparison with N-0437. Three of the nine carbamates were virtually unhydrolysed in rat serum at 37 degrees C, while the other test compounds were hydrolysed relatively slowly, with t1/2 values ranging from 1.5-6 h. The test compounds differed greatly in partition coefficients, which were estimated by RP-HPLC (1-12 times more lipophilic than N-0437). The potential cholinesterase inhibiting properties of the carbamate prodrugs were assessed by a simple in-vitro incubation assay, which showed that only two carbamates were very weak cholinesterase inhibitors.