Effect of Chemical Modification on the Pharmacokinetics and Biodistribution of Carboxymethyl Dextran as a Drug Carrier.

The in vivo fate of drugs conjugated to macromolecules inevitably depends on that of macromolecules. However, the in vivo fate of macromolecules also may be altered by conjugation to drugs. For the efficient design of carboxymethyldextran (CMD) conjugates of a new analgesic drug, DA5018, we investigated whether the chemical modifications alter the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of CMD itself. [[sup 14] C]CMD, oxidized [[sup 14] C]CMD ([[sup 14] C]OCMD), [[sup 14] C]OCMD conjugates of DA5018 ([[sup 14] C]OCMD-DA5018) and [[sup 14] C]OCMD conjugates of ethanolamine ([[sup 14] C]OCMD-EA) were prepared and their molecular sizes were compared by size exclusion HPLC. The pharmacokinetics, biliary excretion, and tissue distribution of total radioactivity were compared after intravenous administration of each CMD derivative, 2.0 MBq/kg, to rats. The effective molecular sizes of CMD derivatives decreased in the order of [[sup 14] C]CMD, [[sup 14] C]OCMD-DA5018, [[sup 14] C]OCMD, and [[sup 14] C]OCMD-EA. After administration of each derivative, the mean AUC values of total radioactivity decreased with the decrease in the effective molecular size. The values of CL, Vss, and the amount of total radioactivity excreted in 24-hr urine increased considerably with the decrease in the effective molecular size. The tissue-to-plasma ratios of total radioactivity remaining in heart, liver, lung, kidney, and spleen at 24 hr also increased in the opposite order of the effective molecular size. Taken together, all these results demonstrate that the chemical modifications and physicochemical properties of attached chemicals can alter the pharmacokinetics and tissue distribution of CMD. One possible reason might be the difference in the effective molecular size of various CMD derivatives. Our study demonstrates that it may be necessary to consider the effect of chemical modification on the in vivo fate of macromolecules in designing macromolecular drug conjugates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]