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Rozance PJ, Brown LD, Wesolowski SR. Absence of Metformin in Fetal Circulation Following Maternal Administration in Late Gestation Pregnant Sheep. Reprod Sci 2024; 31:1763-1766. [PMID: 38653860 PMCID: PMC11111523 DOI: 10.1007/s43032-024-01547-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/02/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
In human pregnancy, metformin administered to the mother crosses the placenta resulting in metformin exposure to the fetus. However, the effects of metformin exposure on the fetus are poorly understood and difficult to study in humans. Pregnant sheep are a powerful large animal model for studying fetal physiology. The objective of this study was to determine if maternally administered metformin at human dose-equivalent concentrations crosses the ovine placenta and equilibrates in the fetal circulation. To test this, metformin was administered to the pregnant ewe via continuous intravenous infusion or supplementation in the drinking water. Both administration routes increased maternal metformin concentrations to human dose-equivalent concentrations of ~ 10 µM, yet metformin was negligible in the fetus even after 3-4 days of maternal administration. In cotyledon and caruncle tissue, expression levels of the major metformin uptake transporter organic cation transporter 1 (OCT1) were < 1% of expression levels in the fetal liver, a tissue with abundant expression. Expression of other putative uptake transporters OCT2 and OCT3, and efflux transporters multidrug and toxin extrusion (MATE)1 and MATE2were more abundant. These results demonstrate that the ovine placenta is impermeable to maternal metformin administration. This is likely due to anatomical differences and increased interhaemal distance between the maternal and umbilical circulations in the ovine versus human placenta limiting placental metformin transport.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul J Rozance
- Department of Pediatrics, Perinatal Research Center, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Mail Stop F441, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
| | - Laura D Brown
- Department of Pediatrics, Perinatal Research Center, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Mail Stop F441, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA
| | - Stephanie R Wesolowski
- Department of Pediatrics, Perinatal Research Center, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Mail Stop F441, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA.
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Chaudhari K, Wang J, Xu Y, Winters A, Wang L, Dong X, Cheng EY, Liu R, Yang SH. Determination of metformin bio-distribution by LC-MS/MS in mice treated with a clinically relevant paradigm. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0234571. [PMID: 32525922 PMCID: PMC7289415 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0234571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Metformin, an anti-diabetes drug, has been recently emerging as a potential “anti-aging” intervention based on its reported beneficial actions against aging in preclinical studies. Nonetheless, very few metformin studies using mice have determined metformin concentrations and many effects of metformin have been observed in preclinical studies using doses/concentrations that were not relevant to therapeutic levels in human. We developed a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry protocol for metformin measurement in plasma, liver, brain, kidney, and muscle of mice. Young adult male and female C57BL/6 mice were voluntarily treated with metformin of 4 mg/ml in drinking water which translated to the maximum dose of 2.5 g/day in humans. A clinically relevant steady-state plasma metformin concentrations were achieved at 7 and 30 days after treatment in male and female mice. Metformin concentrations were slightly higher in muscle than in plasma, while, ~3 and 6-fold higher in the liver and kidney than in plasma, respectively. Low metformin concentration was found in the brain at ~20% of the plasma level. Furthermore, gender difference in steady-state metformin bio-distribution was observed. Our study established steady-state metformin levels in plasma, liver, muscle, kidney, and brain of normoglycemic mice treated with a clinically relevant dose, providing insight into future metformin preclinical studies for potential clinical translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kiran Chaudhari
- Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jianmei Wang
- Pharmaceutical analysis core lab, College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
| | - Yong Xu
- Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
| | - Ali Winters
- Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
| | - Linshu Wang
- Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
| | - Xiaowei Dong
- Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
| | - Eric Y. Cheng
- Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
| | - Ran Liu
- Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
| | - Shao-Hua Yang
- Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience, Institute for Healthy Aging, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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