Pharmacokinetic characteristics and therapeutic effects of mitomycin C-dextran conjugates after intratumoural injection.

The pharmacokinetics and therapeutic effects of macromolecular prodrugs of mitomycin C (MMC), MMC-dextran conjugates (MMC-D) were studied after intratumoural injection in rats bearing Walker 256 carcinosarcoma. As the first step, the intratumoural disposition characteristics of these drugs were delineated in perfusion experiments employing a tissue-isolated tumour preparation. While MMC immediately disappeared from the tumour preparation following direct intratumoural injection, cationic and anionic MMC-D were retained in the tumour longer, demonstrating that the intratumoural clearance of MMC can be greatly retarded by dextran conjugation. The effect was more pronounced in the case of the cationic conjugate. Venous outflow data in the perfusion experiments were analyzed based on a compartment model in which the tumour tissue was assumed to consist of two compartments, one well- and the other poorly-perfused. The pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that macromolecular conjugation reduced elimination of MMC from the poorly-perfused region rather than well-perfused region. Simulation of conjugated and free MMC levels in the tissue using the calculated parameters clearly showed that intratumoural injection of MMC-D, especially the cationic form, can maintain a certain level of active free MMC in the tissue for a much longer time period. The long retention of cationic MMC-D in tumour after intratumoural injection was also confirmed by an in vivo pharmacokinetic study and whole body autoradiography in rats bearing subcutaneous Walker 256 carcinosarcoma. In addition, superior antitumour activity of cationic MMC-D was observed against subcutaneous tumours after intratumoural injection. Together with the finding that MMC is selectively toxic to hypoxic tumour cells at low concentrations, these pharmacokinetic studies strongly support the therapeutic efficacy of the macromolecular prodrugs.

Pharmacokinetic analysis of drug disposition after intratumoral injection in a tissue-isolated tumor perfusion system.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to establish an experimental system for evaluation of the intratumoral behavior of drugs after intratumoral injection using perfused tissue-isolated tumor preparations of Walker 256 carcinoma (3.46-9.73g, n = 16). METHODS: We quantified the recovery of Phenol Red (model drug) in the tumor, leakage from the tumor surface and the venous outflow after intratumoral injection using perfused tissue-isolated tumors, and analyzed venous appearance curves based on a pharmacokinetic model in which the tumor tissue was assumed to be divided into two compartments, i.e., well- and poorly-perfused regions. RESULTS: In small tumors (Type 1, 5.42 +/- 0.39 g), the drug appeared immediately in the venous outflow, and the amount remaining in the tumor tissue at 2 hr after injection was small. In contrast the venous appearance rate reached a significantly lower peak a few minutes after injection, and a large amount of injected drug remained in some large tumors (Type 2.8.17 +/- 0.51 g). Pharmacokinetic analysis revealed that there was a correlation between tumor weight and the rate constants of transfer from the poorly-perfused region to the well-perfused region, and between the rate constants of transfer from the well-perfused region to the venous outflow and dosing ratios into the well-perfused region. CONCLUSIONS: An experimental system and analytical method were established for the evaluation of the intratumoral behavior of drugs after intratumoral injection using a tissue-isolated tumor perfusion system. This experimental system will be useful in analyzing the antitumor drug disposition after intratumoral injection.

Contribution of interstitial diffusion in drug absorption from perfused rabbit muscle: effect of hyaluronidase on absorption.

[3H]Water and [14C]inulin were injected into perfused rabbit muscle with or without hyaluronidase (300 units/ml) and their absorption into venous effluent from muscle was determined. Hyaluronidase accelerated the absorption of both compounds but the enhancement of [14C]inulin was much larger than that for [3H]water. The pharmacokinetic analysis of venous appearance curves based on a physiological diffusion model elucidated that interstitial diffusion of [14C]inulin was remarkably increased by hyaluronidase treatment, suggesting the existence of steric hindrance for it by the polysaccharide network under normal conditions. Enhancement of [3H]water diffusion was also detected although enhancement ratio was about one-half of that of [14C]inulin. Mean time necessary for each process was calculated using the statistical moment concepts. The results suggested predominant contribution of the interstitial diffusion process and secondary and little contribution of local perfusion flow and permeation process across the capillary wall, respectively, in total absorption of [14C]inulin. Effect of hyaluronidase on transcapillary movement of [14C]inulin was studied using an in vitro diffusion experiment with cultured endothelial cell monolayer and no enhancing effect was shown on [14C]inulin transport across the cell monolayer. The contribution of the local perfusion flow, on the other hand, was shown to be almost equivalent to that of the diffusion process in the total absorption of [3H]water.