How Does Glycation Affect Binding Parameters of the Albumin-Gliclazide System in the Presence of Drugs Commonly Used in Diabetes? In Vitro Spectroscopic Study

Insights into the effect of glucose on the binding between human serum albumin and the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug nimesulide

Glucose interacts with human serum albumin (HSA, the main protein responsible for the biodistribution of drugs in the bloodstream) and consequently affects the binding capacity of exogenous compounds. Thus, in this work, the interactive profile between HSA and the anti-inflammatory drug nimesulide (NMD, used mainly by patients with diabetic neuropathy to relieve acute or chronic pains) was characterized in nonglycemic, normoglycemic (80 mg/dL), and hyperglycemic (320 mg/dL) conditions by biophysics techniques. There is a spontaneous and ground-state association HSA:NMD under physiological conditions. Therefore, the Stern-Volmer constant (Ksv) can also be used to estimate the binding affinity. The Ksv values for nonglycemic, normoglycemic, and hyperglycemic conditions are around 104 M-1, indicating a moderate affinity of NMD to albumin that was slightly improved by glucose levels. Additionally, the binding is enthalpically and entropically driven mainly into subdomains IIA or IIIA. The binding perturbs weakly the α-helix content of albumin, however, glucose potentially stabilizes the tertiary structure, decreasing the structural perturbation upon NMD binding and improves the complex HSA:NMD stability. Overall, the biophysical characterization indicated that glucose levels might slightly positively impact the pharmacokinetic profile of NMD, allowing NMD to achieve its therapeutical potential without affecting drastically its effective dosages.

Glycation and drug binding by serum albumin

Accumulation of glycation products in patients with hyperglycaemic conditions can lead to their reaction with the proteins in the human system such as serum albumin, haemoglobin, insulin, plasma lipoproteins, lens proteins and collagen among others which have important biological functions. Therefore, it is important to understand if glycation of these proteins affects their normal action not only qualitatively, but also importantly quantitatively. Glycation of human serum albumin can easily be carried out over period of weeks and its drug transportability may be examined, in addition to characterisation of the amadori products. A combination of ultrasensitive isothermal titration calorimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, spectroscopy and chromatography provides structure-property-energetics correlations which are important to obtain mechanistic aspects of drug recognition, conformation of the protein, and role of amadori products under conditions of glycation. The role of advance glycation end products is important in recognition of antidiabetic drugs. Further, the extent of glycation of the protein and its implication on drug transportability investigated by direct calorimetric methods enables unravelling mechanistic insights into role of functionality on drug molecules in the binding process, and hinderance in the recognition process, if any, as a result of glycation. It is possible that the drug binding ability of the protein under glycation conditions may not be adversely affected, or may even lead to strengthened ability. Rigorous studies on such systems with diverse functionality on the drug molecules is required which is essential in deriving guidelines for improvements in the existing drugs or in the synthesis of new molecular entities directed towards addressing diabetic conditions.

Investigation on the binding behavior of human α1-acid glycoprotein with Janus Kinase inhibitor baricitinib: Multi-spectroscopic and molecular simulation methodologies

Baricitinib is a Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor that is primarily used to treat moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis in adults and has recently been reported for the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19. This paper describes the investigation of the binding behavior of baricitinib to human α1-acid glycoprotein (HAG) employing a variety of spectroscopic techniques, molecular docking and dynamics simulations. Baricitinib can quench the fluorescence from amino acids in HAG through a mix of dynamic and static quenching, according to steady-state fluorescence and UV spectra observations, but it is mainly static quenching at low concentration. The binding constant (K_b) of baricitinib to HAG at 298 K was at the level of 10⁴ M^-1, indicating a moderate affinity of baricitinib to HAG. Hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions conducted the main effect, according to thermodynamic characteristics, competition studies between ANS and sucrose, and molecular dynamics simulations. For the change in HAG conformation, the results of multiple spectra showed that baricitinib was able to alter the secondary structure of HAG as well as increase the polarity of the microenvironment around the Trp amino acid. Furthermore, the binding behavior of baricitinib to HAG was investigated by molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, which validated experimental results. Also explored is the influence of K⁺, Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, Ca²⁺, Fe³⁺, Zn²⁺, Mg²⁺ and Cu²⁺plasma on binding affinity.

In Vitro Investigation of Binding Interactions between Albumin–Gliclazide Model and Typical Hypotensive Drugs

Type 2 diabetes management usually requires polytherapy, which increases the risk of drug-to-drug interactions. Among the multiple diabetes comorbidities, hypertension is the most prevalent. This study aimed to investigate the binding interactions between the model protein, bovine albumin, and the hypoglycemic agent gliclazide (GLICL) in the presence of typical hypotensive drugs: quinapril hydrochloride (QUI), valsartan (VAL), furosemide (FUR), amlodipine besylate (AML), and atenolol (ATN). Spectroscopic techniques (fluorescence quenching, circular dichroism) and thermodynamic experiments were employed. The binding of the gliclazide to the albumin molecule was affected by the presence of an additional drug ligand, which was reflected by the reduced binding constant of the BSA–DRUG–GLICL system. This may indicate a possible GLICL displacement and its enhanced pharmacological effect, as manifested in clinical practice. The analysis of the thermodynamic parameters indicated the spontaneity of the reaction and emphasized the role of hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces in these interactions. The secondary structure of the BSA remained almost unaffected.