Tissue distribution and characterization of drug-related material in rats and dogs after repeated oral administration of casopitant.

Casopitant [1-piperidinecarboxamide,4-(4-acetyl-1-piperazinyl)-N-((1R)-1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-ethyl)-2-(4-fluoro-2-methylphenyl)-N-methyl-(2R,4S)] has been shown to be a potent and selective antagonist of the human neurokinin 1 receptor, the primary receptor for substance P. During long-term toxicity studies conducted in rat and dog, evidence of cardiomyopathy and increased cardiac weight were observed. The distribution and metabolism of casopitant were studied in both species evaluating the accumulation of drug-related material (DRM) after repeat dosing and its potential relationship with pathological findings observed in myocardium. After repeat oral administration of [(14)C]casopitant to rats (20 days) and dogs (14 days), DRM was quantifiable in all of the tissues examined with lung and liver containing the highest level of radioactivity. The concentration of radioactivity was significantly higher in tissues than in plasma, declining slowly and still quantifiable after a recovery period of 20 days. The principal circulating components identified in both species were casopitant, M12 (oxidized deacetylated), M13 (hydroxylated piperazine), and M31 and M134 (two N-dealkylated piperazines). In tissues, a similar metabolic pattern was observed, in which casopitant, M31, M134, M76 (N-deacetylated), and M200 (N-deacetylated N,N-deethylated) were the major components quantified. After a 26-week repeat dose study in dog, casopitant and M13 were the major circulating components, whereas in myocardium, M200 and M134 were the major ones and their levels increased over time, reaching considerable concentrations (millimolar magnitude). After a washout period, all circulating derivatives decreased to undetectable levels, whereas M200 was still the major component in myocardium. Overall DRM in plasma did not correlate with the respective concentrations in tissues.

Metabolic disposition of casopitant, a potent neurokinin-1 receptor antagonist, in mice, rats, and dogs.

Casopitant [1-piperidinecarboxamide,4-(4-acetyl-1-piperazinyl)-N-((1R)-1-(3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-ethyl)-2-(4-fluoro-2-methylphenyl)-N-methyl-(2R,4S)] is a potent and selective antagonist of the neurokinin-1 (NK1) receptor, developed for the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination of [(14)C]casopitant have been investigated in the mouse, rat, and dog after single oral administration and compared with those in humans. [(14)C]Casopitant was rapidly absorbed in all three species: the maximum plasma concentration of radioactivity was generally observed 0.5 to 2 h after a single oral dose. In dog and female rat, as observed for humans, the principal circulating radiolabeled components were unchanged casopitant and its hydroxylated derivative M13. In rats, there was an evident sex-related difference in the rate of elimination of drug-related material with elimination being more rapid in males than in females. In dogs and mice, no notable sex differences were observed in the pattern of excretion. The elimination of drug-related radioactivity was largely by metabolism, with metabolites excreted primarily in the feces. The predominant route of metabolism was the oxidation of the parent molecule, observed together with loss of the N-acetyl group, N-demethylation, and modification of piperazine with consequent opening and cleavage of the ring, giving a complex pattern of metabolites. Conjugation of some of those oxidized products with glucuronic acid was observed. Urinary excretion in all three species was a minor route of elimination, accounting for between 2 and 7% of the dose, with unchanged parent drug never quantifiable.

DNA interacts with Bacillus subtilis mechano-sensitive channels in native membrane patches.

Much recent evidence indicates that systems devoted to the transmembrane transport of proteins and/or genetic material in bacteria comprise proteins capable of forming large pores as a key element. In several cases these pores have been observed in electrophysiological experiments after purification and reconstitution of the proteins in artificial bilayers. A comparison of their properties with those of large mechanosensitive channels observed by patch-clamping bacterial proto- or spheroplasts suggests that the latter may be formed by such transport machines. In support of this hypothesis, this paper reports that the properties of high-conductance channels in the membrane of Bacillus subtilis are altered by DNA through specific interactions. Thus, the previously demonstrated interaction between DNA and the same channels reconstituted in planar bilayers, which in that system results in the transmembrane translocation of the genetic material, takes place also in the native membrane.