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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, January 2006, p. 371-373, Vol. 50, No. 1
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.50.1.371-373.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Norfloxacin Blood-Brain Barrier Transport in Rats Is Not Affected by Probenecid Coadministration
Sandrine Marchand,1,2
Anna Forsell,1
Marylore Chenel,1,3
Emmanuelle Comets,4
Isabelle Lamarche,1 and
William Couet1,2*
EA 3809, Faculté de Médecine et de Pharmacie, BP 199, 34 rue du Jardin des Plantes, 86005 Poitiers Cedex, France,1
Laboratoire de Pharmacocine'tique, PBS, CHU La Mile'trie, 40 avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers Cedex, France,2
University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom,3
INSERM U738, Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Clinical research, AP-HP, Bichat University Hospital, Paris, France4
Received 9 March 2005/
Returned for modification 22 May 2005/
Accepted 30 October 2005
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ABSTRACT
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The effect of probenecid (PRO) on norfloxacin (NOR) blood-brain barrier transport was investigated with rats by microdialysis. Maximum brain drug concentrations were rapidly attained, and the brain penetration factor was close to 5% in the absence and presence of PRO. In conclusion, PRO has no effect on NOR blood-brain barrier transport.
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TEXT
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Central nervous system (CNS) side effects represent a common adverse event during fluoroquinolone (FQ) therapy (3, 7). High potential toxic risk exists with FQs exhibiting limited CNS distribution, such as norfloxacin (NOR) (2, 5, 6, 9), because of possible blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeation under various conditions, such as disease state or drug-drug interactions. Probenecid (PRO) is known as an inhibitor of anionic transport proteins, such as multidrug resistance-associated protein, organic anion transporting polypeptides, and organic anion transporters (8, 13), previously shown to interfere with the renal tubular secretion of NOR, at least in rabbits and humans (12). PRO could therefore be responsible for drug-drug interactions at the BBB by various mechanisms and was selected as a good candidate drug with potential effect on the CNS distribution of NOR, chosen as a representative FQ with limited CNS distribution.
NOR and PRO were
obtained from Sigma (Saint-Quentin Fallavier, France). A NOR salt was
prepared as described previously
(5). Solvents, including
water, were of analytical grade. Experiments were done in accordance
with the Principles of Laboratory Animals Care (NIH Publication no.
#85-23, revised in 1985). Male Sprague-Dawley rats (Janvier
Laboratories, Le Genet-St-Isle, France) weighing 287 ±
8 g were anesthetized and equipped with catheters
(2,
9) and blood microdialysis
CMA/20 probes (polycarbonate; membrane length, 10 mm; cutoff, 20,000
Da; CMA Microdialysis, Phymep, Paris, France)
(10,
14,
17). Anesthetized rats
were placed on a stereotaxic instrument (David Kopf Instruments,
Tujunga, Calif.) and a CMA/12 guide cannula was implanted into the left
dorsal hippocampus (2,
9). The day of the
experiment, a CMA/12 probe (polycarbonate; membrane length, 3 mm;
cutoff, 20,000 Da; CMA Microdialysis, Phymep) was inserted into the
dorsal hippocampus. To estimate individual in vivo recovery, a
retrodialysis by drug period was done, consisting of an equilibration
and a collection period. Probes were then perfused with Ringer
containing NOR (100 nM for brain, 6 µM for blood) at 2
µl · min1 during the first hour of
equilibration and 0.5 µl · min1
during the second hour. Ringer solution for blood microdialysis was
from CMA (perfusion fluid T1; CMA Microdialysis, Phymep) and Ringer
medium for brain microdialysis was as described previously
(2,
9). After the
equilibration period, four dialysates were collected for 60
min by fractions corresponding to 15-min intervals, and the mean in
vivo recovery was determined for each probe and used to estimate actual
unbound concentrations
(9). A 2-h washout period
was then performed, with probes being perfused with blank Ringer at a
flow rate of 2 µl · min1 and 0.5
µl · min1 for the first and second
hours, respectively. For a NOR CNS distribution study, a loading dose
of PRO (20 mg · kg1 or 70 µmol
· kg1 as a 1-ml intravenous (i.v.) bolus)
was administered via the femoral vein catheter at the beginning of the
equilibration time, followed by a constant infusion (20 mg ·
kg1 · h1 or 70
µmol kg1 · h1)
at a flow rate of 0.5 ml · min1 (PHD 2000
infusion pump; Harvard, France) for the PRO group
(14). For the control
group, rats received a sodium bicarbonate solution under similar
conditions. After the washout period, an i.v. bolus dose of NOR (50 mg
· kg1 or 141 µmol ·
kg1) was administrated via the femoral vein to rats
of both groups. Dialysates from blood and brain were collected over a
period of 8 h at a flow rate of 0.5 µl ·
min1. Samples were collected at 15- and 30-min
intervals during the first and second hours, respectively, and then
every hour over the remaining 6 h. The NOR assay with
dialysates was as described previously
(2,
9). Drug concentrations in
blood and brain extracellular fluid (ECF) were analyzed simultaneously
by a population approach. Distribution equilibrium of NOR within the
brain was supposed to be attained instantaneously
(2,
9), and blood and brain ECF
data were analyzed simultaneously, considering that brain ECF was part
of the central compartment, with a tissue penetration factor
(R) relating free brain ECF and free blood drug concentrations
at any time (2). The
population pharmacokinetic (PK) model after i.v. bolus
administration of NOR in rat was a two-compartment model in which an
interanimal variability modeled exponentially was added to the
R parameter. In the exponential variance model (equation 1),
Ri and Rpop are the parameters
for the ith (i = 1, ...
n) subject and the average population estimates,
respectively.
i is a zero mean and
normally distributed variable with standard deviation
, which
was estimated.
 | (1) |
To
characterize the residual variability, an additive random error
(equation 2) was used for unbound blood concentrations
(Yobs, plasma), whereas a proportional random error
(equation 3) was selected for ECF brain concentrations
(Yobs, brain),
 | (2) |
 | (3) |
with
Ypred, blood and Ypred, brain,
the predicted concentrations in blood and brain, respectively, and
1 and
2, the zero-mean normally
distributed variables with standard deviations
1
and
2 for blood and brain concentrations,
respectively. Population parameters were estimated with the software
NONMEM (version V) using the first-order conditional estimate with
interaction method (1).
Goodness of fit was checked by visual inspection of residuals and
predictions. Estimates of population blood PK parameters are given with
the relative standard error (RSE) of estimation expressed as a
percentage. A Wald test was used to compare parameter estimates within
the two groups (11). The
results were confirmed by likelihood ratio tests coupled with a
randomization procedure to correct the nominal P value because
of the limited number of animals
(15).
Nine
rats were included in this study, four in the control group and five in
the PRO-treated group. The mean recovery by loss of NOR estimated from
four consecutive samples for each animal ranged from 4.5% ±
0.6% to 14.5% ± 4.9% in brain and from 24.4% ± 8.7% to
58.8% ± 4.0% in blood. One rat of each group presented
uncompleted data (blood or brain data only). They were not excluded,
but instead, a population pharmacokinetic approach was chosen for data
analysis. Concentration-time profiles of unbound NOR in rat blood and
brain ECF showed that NOR distribution equilibrium in brain was
attained instantaneously in the absence of PRO, as demonstrated
previously (2,
9), and in the presence of
PRO, as illustrated with typical rats (Fig.
1). Pharmacokinetic population parameters are displayed in Table
1. RSE of estimation obtained from NONMEM were quite low, and no
particular trend was observed in checking residuals. The population PK
model was suitable to predict concentrations in each animal and a good
correlation was observed between individual predicted and observed
concentrations (Fig.
2). No significant difference was observed within groups for population
estimates of clearance as well as volume of distribution at steady
state according to Wald individual tests (Table
1) and consistent with the
conclusions from model building using the likelihood ratio test
(results not shown). Although the limited sample size in this study
limits the power to detect small differences, this result suggests that
PRO has no major effect on NOR pharmacokinetics, consistent with the
fact that NOR renal clearance represents only 15% on average of total
clearance, with limited if any tubular secretion
(4). The brain penetration
factor R was in the order of 5% in the absence of PRO,
consistent with previously reported values
(2,
9) and apparently not
altered by the presence of PRO (Table
1). However, drug-drug
interactions are dose dependent, and therefore, an interaction could
have been observed at higher doses. Yet the PRO dose was the same as
those previously used by others to demonstrate significant interactions
with zidovudine (16) and
morphine-3-glucuronide
(17) BBB transport. The
NOR dose was not too high in order to avoid CNS side effects but
corresponded to 3,000 mg · 60 kg1, which is
severalfold higher than the usual dose (400 mg) used in clinical
practice. Furthermore, peak blood levels in the order of 50 to 100
µM (15 to 30 µg · ml1) were
also much higher than the usual value (1 to 2 µg ·
ml1) encountered in clinical
practice.

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FIG. 1. Observed
() and predicted free concentrations of NOR versus time in
brain ECF (dashed lines) and blood (solid lines) from representative
rats of the control (a) and PRO-treated (b)
groups.
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TABLE 1. Population
PK parameter estimates of mean population time course of
NOR after i.v. bolus administration of 50 mg ·
kg1 (141 µmol ·
kg1) to rats
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In conclusion, PRO has virtually no effect,
if any, on NOR BBB transport, at least in this experimental setting,
and although there is a theoretical risk, no experimental data have
been provided yet to support an increased CNS toxicity of FQs in the
presence of coadministered drugs interfering with their BBB
transport.
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FOOTNOTES
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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Pôle Biologie Santé, 40 avenue du Recteur Pineau, 86022 Poitiers Cedex, France. Phone: 33-5-49-45-43-79. Fax: 33-5-49-45-43-78. E-mail: william.couet{at}univ-poitiers.fr. 
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Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, January 2006, p. 371-373, Vol. 50, No. 1
0066-4804/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AAC.50.1.371-373.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.