Most important barrier for
drug permeation due to:
many lipid
barriers separating body
compartments
Lipid: aqueous drug
partition coefficients described the ease
with which a drug moves between aqueous
and lipid environments
Ionization state
of the drug is an important factor:
charged drugs diffuse-through lipid
environments with difficulty.
pH and the drug
pKa, important in determining the
ionization state, will influence
significantly transport (ratios
of lipid-to aqueous-soluble forms
for weak acids and bases
described by the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation.
note that if [B] = [BH+] then pKa
= pH + log (1) or (since log(1) = 0), pKa
= pH
The lower the pH relative to the
pKa the greater fraction of protonated drug is
found. Recall that the protonated form of an acid is
uncharged (neutral); however, protonated form of a base
will be charged.
As a result, a weak acid at acid
pH will be more
lipid-soluble because it is uncharged and uncharged
molecules move more readily through a lipid (nonpolar)
environment, like the some membrane, than charged
molecules
Similarly a weak base at alkaline
pH will be more
lipid-soluble because at alkaline pH a proton will
dissociate from molecule leaving it uncharged and again
free to move through lipid membrane structures
Lipid diffusion depends
on adequate lipid solubility
Drug ionization
reduces a drug's ability to cross
a lipid bilayer.
Many
drugs are weak acids or weak bases
A weak acid is
a neutral molecule that
dissociates into an anion
(negatively charged) and a proton
(a hydrogen ion) Example:
C8H7O2COOH
< > C8H7O2COO-
+ H+
Neutral aspirin
(C8H7O2COOH)
in equilibrium with
aspirin anion (C8H7O2COO-
) and a proton (H+)
weak acid:
protonated form --
neutral, more
lipid-soluble
weak base: a neutral
molecule that can form a cation
(positively charged) by combining
with a proton. Example:
C12H11CIN3NH3+
< > C12H11CIN3NH2
+ H+
pyrimethamine
cation (C12H11CIN3NH3+)
in equilibrium
with neutral
pyrimethamine (C12H11CIN3NH2)
and a proton
(H+
)
weak base:
protonated form --
charged, less
lipid-soluble
Peptides, amino acids,
glucose are examples of molecules then
enter cells through special carrier
mechanisms.
Carriers:
Active transport
describes an energy requiring process which is
saturable, meaning that transport is probably
against the concentration gradient and involves a
finite number of carriers, hence the process must
be saturable when all carrier sites are filled.
Facilitated
diffusion, while not requiring "energy"
is also saturable (limited
number of carrier sites)
Saturable (unlike
passive diffusion) because of
limited number of carrier
sites--once those sites are
filled, transport rates cannot be
increased.
A property of
carrier systems is that process is subject to
inhibition by other small molecules.
Figure Developed by Dr. Steve Downing,
University of Minnesota
Entry into cells by very
large substances (e.g., iron vitamin B12
-- each complexed with its binding
protein -- movement across intestinal
wall into the blood)
Neurotransmitter
system examples
for exocytosis:
Following neuronal
electrical activation of
nerve endings, two steps may be initiated:
Storage
vesicles containing neurotransmitter
fuse with cell
membranes followed by
release
or diffusion
of contents into the extracellular region.
Summary
Figure Developed by Dr. Steve Downing, University of
Minnesota
Most drugs in a
lipid-soluble form will be
reabsorbed by passive diffusion.
To
increase excretion: change the
urinary pH to favor the charged
form of the drug since charged
form cannot be readily reabsorbed
(they cannot readily pass through
biological membranes)
Weak
acids: excreted faster in
alkaline pH (anion form
favored)
example:
urinary alkalinization to facilitate
excretion of barbiturates in
management of overdosage/poisonings
Weak
bases: excreted faster in
acidic pH (cation form
favored)
Placental transfer of basic
drugs from mother to fetus: local
anesthetics
Fetal pH is lower than
maternal pH
Lipid-soluble, nonionized
local anesthetic crosses the placenta
converted to poorly lipid-soluble ionized
drug
Gradient
is maintained for continual
transfer of local anesthetic from
maternal circulation to fetal
circulation
In fetal
distress, acidosis contributes to
local anesthetic accumulation
Weak bases-- amines
N + 1 carbon (R) and 2
hydrogens: primary amine (reversible protonation)
N + 2 carbons (R) and 1
hydrogen: secondary amine (reversible protonation)
N + 3 carbons (R):
tertiary amine (reversible protonation)
N + 4 carbons (R):
quaternary amine (permanently charged)
Katzung, B. G. Basic
Principles-Introduction , in Basic and Clinical
Pharmacology, (Katzung, B. G., ed) Appleton-Lange, 1998,
pp 1-33
Stoelting, R.K.,
"Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Injected
and Inhaled Drugs", in Pharmacology and Physiology
in Anesthetic Practice, Lippincott-Raven Publishers,
1999, 1-17.