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Relationships between heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) and cancer aggressiveness, metastasis, drug resistance, and poor patient outcomes in various cancer types including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were reported, and inhibition of HSP27 expression is suggested to be a possible strategy for cancer therapy. Unlike HSP90 or HSP70, HSP27 does not have an ATP-binding pocket, and no effective HSP27 inhibitors have been identified. Previously, NSCLC cancer cells were sensitized to radiation and chemotherapy when co-treated with small molecule HSP27 functional inhibitors such as zerumbone (ZER), SW15, and J2 that can induce abnormal cross-linked HSP27 dimer. In this study, cancer inhibition effects of NA49, a chromenone compound with better solubility, longer circulation time, and less toxicity than J2, were examined in combination with anticancer drugs such as cisplatin and gefitinib in NSCLC cell lines. When the cytotoxic drug cisplatin was treated in combination with NA49 in epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFRs) WT cell lines, sensitization was induced in an HSP27 expression-dependent manner. With gefitinib treatment, NA49 showed increased combination effects in both EGFR WT and Mut cell lines, also with HSP27 expression-dependent patterns. Moreover, NA49 induced sensitization in EGFR Mut cells with a secondary mutation of T790M when combined with gefitinib. Augmented tumor growth inhibition was shown with the combination of cisplatin or gefitinib and NA49 in nude mouse xenograft models. These results suggest the combination of HSP27 inhibitor NA49 and anticancer agents as a candidate for overcoming HSP27-mediated drug resistance in NSCLC patients.

A high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV) method has been used to quantify teicoplanin concentrations in human plasma. However, the limited analytical accuracy of previously bioanalytical methods for teicoplanin has given rise to uncertainty due to the use of an external standard. In this study, an internal standard (IS), polymyxin B, was applied to devise a precise, accurate, and feasible HPLC-UV method. The deproteinized plasma sample containing teicoplanin and an IS of acetonitrile was chromatographed on a C18 column with an acidic mobile phase consisting of NaH2PO4 buffer and acetonitrile (78:22, v/v) by isocratic elution and detection at 220 nm. The linearity was in the range 7.8–500 mg/L calculated by the ratio of the teicoplanin signal to the IS signal. This analytical method, validated by FDA guidelines with ICH Q2 (R1), was successfully applied to analyze the plasma samples of patients in the intensive care unit for treating serious resistant bacterial infectious diseases, such as those by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis. The methods suggested the potential for use in routine clinical practice for therapeutic drug monitoring of teicoplanin, providing both improved accuracy and a wide range of linearity from lower than steady-state trough concentrations (10 mg/L) to much higher concentrations.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibition has been studied to overcome multidrug resistance in cancer chemotherapy but failed in clinical trials due to low/toxic effects. Recently, a dual modulation of transporters and natural derivatives have been examined to surmount this limitation. We examined breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) inhibition in vitro and in vivo by P-gp inhibitors derived from natural compounds in previous studies. P-gp inhibitors increased the accumulation of the anticancer drug, topotecan (TPT)—a substrate of P-gp and BCRP, albeit with higher affinity for BCRP—in BCRP-overexpressing cells, resulting in cell death. These dual inhibitors, when orally co-administered with TPT, enhanced TPT bioavailability with slightly reduced total oral clearance (Clt/F) in rats. In xenograft mice, they strengthened oral TPT-induced tumor reduction with no alterations in body weight. Moreover, we investigated the effects of an oral drug formulation (Cremophor® EL, Tween® 80, and polyethylene glycol 400) on the transporters function. The excipients increased TPT accumulation in P-gp- or BCRP-overexpressing cells. Oral TPT bioavailability was higher with the formulation than with a control, as shown by the increases in the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) and the area under the plasma concentration–time curve from zero to infinity (AUCINF) (p< 0.01). Therefore, oral TPT bioavailability was enhanced by P-gp/BCRP dual inhibition, which resulted in a formulation-mediated increase in absorption and decrease in elimination, and a dual inhibitor-mediated decrease in elimination. These results suggest that the combination of dual inhibition by a natural derivative and the drug formulation can be a useful clinical approach.

P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is known to be involved in multidrug resistance (MDR) and modulation of pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of substrate drugs. Here, we studied the effects of synthesized ferulic acid (FA) derivatives on P-gp function in vitro and examined PK alteration of paclitaxel (PTX), a well-known P-gp substrate drug by the derivative. Compound 5c, the FA derivative chosen as a significant P-gp inhibitor among eight FA candidates by in vitro results, increased PTX AUCinf as much as twofold versus the control by reducing PTX elimination in rats. These results suggest that FA derivative can increase PTX bioavailability by inhibiting P-gp existing in eliminating organs.

In a previous study, the specific NOX1/2/4 inhibitor Ewha-18278 was confirmed as a possible treatment for osteoporosis both in vitro and in vivo. Here, we investigated the pharmacokinetics (PK) of the compound by intravenous (IV) and oral administrations to rats. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-based and diazepam injection-based formulations were used to dissolve the compound. In the latter formulation applicable to humans, the changes in PK parameters were monitored at two different concentrations (1 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL). The area under the plasma concentration-time curve from zero time to infinity (AUCinf) of Ewha-18278 was highest in the DMSO-based formulation (2 mg/mL). Also, the concentration was increased 1.6-fold at the low concentration of the diazepam injection-based formulation compared to the high concentration. There was no statistical significance in the AUCinf of the compound between DMSO-based formulation (2 mg/mL) and diazepam injection-based formulation (1 mg/mL). These results suggest that Ewha-18278 can be delivered to humans by both IV and oral routes. In addition, the diazepam injection-based formulation of Ewha-18278 appears to be a suitable candidate for dosage development for future toxicity test and clinical trial.

Paclitaxel (PTX) is an anticancer agent that is used to treat many cancers but it has a very low oral bioavailability due, at least in part, to the drug efflux transporter, P-glycoprotein (P-gp). Therefore, this study was performed to enhance oral bioavailability of PTX. In this study, we investigated the effects of several piperazine derivatives on P-gp function in vitro. Compound 4 was selected as the most potent P-gp inhibitor from the in vitro results for examining the pharmacokinetic (PK) changes of PTX in rats. Compound 4 increased the AUCinf of PTX without alterations in the Cmax value. The elimination half-life was extended and the oral clearance decreased. Additionally, the Tmax was delayed or widened in the treatment groups. Therefore, the bioavailability (BA) of PTX was improved 2.1-fold following the co-administration of 5 mg/kg of the derivative. A piperazine derivative, compound 4, which was confirmed as a substantial P-gp inhibitor in vitro increased the BA of PTX up to 2-fold by a lingering absorption, in part due to inhibition of intestinal P-gp and a low oral clearance of PTX. These results suggest that co-administering compound 4 may change the PK profile of PTX by inhibiting P-gp activity in the body.