Chemical metabolite synthesis and profiling: Mimicking in vivo biotransformation reactions.

Biotransformation was previously viewed as merely the structural characterization of drug metabolites, and it was performed only when drug candidates entered clinical development. The synthesis of drug metabolites is crucial to the drug development process because it generates either pharmacologically active, inactive, or reactive molecules and hence their characterization and comprehensive pharmacological evaluation is necessary. The chemical metabolite synthesis is very challenging due to the complex structures of many drug molecules, presence of multiple stereocenters, poor reaction yields, and the formation of unwanted by-products. Drug metabolites and their chemical synthesis have immense significance in the drug discovery process. The chemical synthesis of metabolites facilitates on- or off-target pharmacological and toxicological evaluations at the easiest. In a broader view metabolite could be a target lead molecule for drug design, toxic reactive metabolites, pharmaceutical standards for bioanalytical methods, etc. Collectively these metabolite information dossiers will aid regulatory agencies such as the EMA and FDA in maintaining strict vigilance over drug manufacturers with regard to the safety of NCE's and their hidden metabolites. Herein, we are presenting a systematic compilation of chemical and biocatalytic strategies reported to date for pharmaceutical drug metabolite synthesis. This review report is very useful for the laboratory synthesis of new drug metabolites, and their preclinical biological evaluation could aid in the detection of early threats (alerts) in drug discovery, eliminate the toxicity profile, explore newer pharmacology, and delivering a promising and safe drug candidate to humankind.

Harnessing personalized tailored medicines to digital-based data-enriched edible pharmaceuticals.

Tailoring drug products to personalized medicines poses challenges for conventional dosage forms. The prominent reason is the restricted availability of flexible dosage strengths in the market. Inappropriate dosage strengths lead to adverse drug reactions or compromised therapeutic effects. The situation worsens when the drug has a narrow therapeutic window. To overcome these challenges, data-enriched edible pharmaceuticals (DEEP) are novel concepts for designing solid oral products. DEEP have individualized doses and information embedded in quick response (QR) code form. When data are presented in a QR code, the information is printed with edible ink that contains the drug in tailored doses required for the patients.

Development and validation of an LC-MS/MS method for the assessment of Isoxazole, a bioactive analogue of curcumin in rat plasma: Application to a pharmacokinetic study.

A novel Isoxazole (ISO) analog of curcumin is synthesized from curcumin and described as having a better pharmacological activity than curcumin, such as anti-cancer, anti-malarial, anti-mycobacterial, and many more. The present research aims to develop a bio-analytical method with a simple, rapid, selective, sensitive, accurate, and precise quantification of ISO by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) in rat plasma matrix. The simple plasma protein precipitation method was used for ISO extraction. The ISO was eluted in isocratic mode on a Water symmetry C18 column (75 × 4.6 mm2, 3.5 µm) at a 600 µL/min flow rate with a 0.1 % formic acid in water and methanol (20:80) as mobile phase. The MS/MS was used as a monitoring tool for the fragmentation of ISO as m/z = 366.1 → 145.1 and m/z = 237.1 → 194.07 for carbamazepine (CBZ; internal standard). The ISO showed good co-relation as (r2 = 0.999) linear and covered a wide range with a lower limit of quantification of 1.0 ng/mL. Finally, the developed method was successfully utilized for oral and intravenous pharmacokinetics of ISO in rats plasma. The absolute bioavailability of ISO was found at about 17.6 % after oral administration.

Glibenclamide-malonic acid cocrystal with an enhanced solubility and bioavailability.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the work is to enhance the solubility, dissolution, and pharmacokinetic properties of glibenclamide (GLB) via cocrystallization technique. SIGNIFICANCE: Glibenclamide is an oral hypoglycemic agent used for treating non-insulin-dependent (type II) diabetes mellitus. It exhibits poor aqueous solubility and oral bioavailability, thereby compromising its therapeutic effect. Therefore, utilizing cocrystal approach for enhancing the solubility will modulate the physicochemical properties of GLB without altering its molecular structure. METHODS: Cocrystal was prepared by solution crystallization method using coformer malonic acid. The cocrystal was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) studies. The prepared cocrystal was subjected to solubility, in vitro dissolution, and pharmacokinetic studies. RESULTS: The DSC endotherms, PXRD patterns, and the FT-IR spectra of the cocrystal established the formation of a cocrystal. The formation of eutectic mixture was refuted upon comparing the DSC endotherm and PXRD pattern of the cocrystal with that of the physical mixture. GLB showed a twofold enhancement in solubility and a significant improvement in the rate of dissolution (p < 0.05, independent t-test) after cocrystallization. The pharmacokinetic parameters on male Sprague Drawly rats showed 1.45 enhancement in AUC0-24 and 1.36-fold enhancement in the Cmax of GLB as compared to the pure drug. CONCLUSION: These findings demonstrate that cocrystallization technique was able to tailor the solubility and dissolution profile of GLB leading to an enhanced pharmacokinetic property.