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Authors :
Hans Lennernäs
Dag Nilsson
Urban Fagerholm
Source :
Pharmaceutical Research. 11:1540-1544
Publication Year :
1994
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 1994.

Abstract

Food ingestion can influence the absorption of levodopa in the intestine and thereby contribute to fluctuations of motor functions in Parkinson patients. Obstruction of the active transport of levodopa by amino acids can be one factor. Paracellular drug absorption, a route proposed to be influenced by net transport of water across the intestinal epithelium, might occur for a small and hydrophilic drug such as levodopa. In the present study we studied how luminal L-leucine (60 mmol/L), alone or combined with hypotonicity, might stimulate net water absorption, and levodopa uptake in the human small intestine, since this possibly can contribute to the variable intestinal absorption of levodopa. The Loc-I-Gut perfusion technique was used in 10 healthy volunteers to study the effects of induced net fluid absorption on the small intestinal absorption of levodopa (2.5 mmol/L). An induced net fluid absorption was observed only when L-leucine was combined with a hypoosmolar perfusion solution. However, this did not enhance the intestinal permeability of levodopa. In conclusion, we suggest that the variability in the absorption of levodopa in Parkinson’s disease cannot be explained by differences in transmucosal water flux in the human small intestine.

Details

ISSN :
07248741
Volume :
11
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Pharmaceutical Research
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........1b63be66a30a9535bdcb321757873536
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1018941200575