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Differences in Cerebral Distribution between Imipramine and Paroxetine via Membrane Transporters at the Rat Blood-Brain Barrier

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Abstract

Purpose

The present study aimed to elucidate the transport properties of imipramine and paroxetine, which are the antidepressants, across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in rats.

Methods

In vivo influx and efflux transport of imipramine and paroxetine across the BBB were tested using integration plot analysis and a combination of brain efflux index and brain slice uptake studies, respectively. Conditionally immortalized rat brain capillary endothelial cells, TR-BBB13 cells, were utilized to characterize imipramine and paroxetine transport at the BBB in vitro.

Results

The in vivo influx clearance of [3H]imipramine and [3H]paroxetine in rats was determined to be 0.322 mL/(min·g brain) and 0.313 mL/(min·g brain), respectively. The efflux clearance of [3H]imipramine and [3H]paroxetine was 0.380 mL/(min·g brain) and 0.126 mL/(min·g brain), respectively. These results suggest that the net flux of paroxetine, but not imipramine, at the BBB in vivo was dominated by transport to the brain from the circulating blood. The uptake of imipramine and paroxetine by TR-BBB13 cells exhibited time- and temperature-dependence and one-saturable kinetics with a Km of 37.6 μM and 89.2 μM, respectively. In vitro uptake analyses of extracellular ion dependency and the effect of substrates/inhibitors for organic cation transporters and transport systems revealed minor contributions to known transporters and transport systems and the difference in transport properties in the BBB between imipramine and paroxetine.

Conclusions

Our study showed the comprehensive outcomes of imipramine and paroxetine transport at the BBB, implying that molecular mechanism(s) distinct from previously reported transporters and transport systems are involved in the transport.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

aCSF:

artificial cerebrospinal fluid

AUC(t):

Area under the plasma concentration time curve from time 0 to t

BBB:

Blood-brain barrier

BEI:

Brain efflux index

CEF:

Cerebral extracellular fluid

CL eff,BBB :

Efflux clearance across the BBB

CL inf,brain :

Apparent influx clearance of the drug into the brain

Cp(t):

Plasma concentration at time t

HEPES:

2-[4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethansulfonic acid

k eff,BBB :

Elimination rate constant from the brain across the BBB

K m :

Michaelis-Menten constant

K p,app,brain :

Apparent brain-to-plasma concentration ratio

LTR:

LysoTracker® Red

MATE1:

Multidrug and toxin extrusion protein 1

MPP+ :

1-methyl-4-phenyl pyridinium

N.E.:

Not examined

OCT:

Organic cation transporter

OCTN:

Organic cation/L-carnitine transporter

PMAT:

Plasma membrane monoamine transporter

SD:

Standard deviation

SERT:

Serotonin transporter

SLC:

Solute carrier

TEA:

Tetraetylammonium

V d,brain :

Cerebral distribution volume of the drug

V i,brain :

Rapidly-equilibrated cerebral distribution volume

V max :

Maximum uptake rate

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND DISCLOSURES

The authors thank Mr. Ryuta Jomura (University of Toyama, Toyama, Japan) for supporting the in vivo studies. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Funding

This research was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI [Grant Numbers: 19K07160 to Shin-ichi Akanuma and 20H03403 to Ken-ichi Hosoya] and the Research Grant from the Smoking Research Foundation.

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Author notes

  1. Shin-ichi Akanuma, Myeongrae Han and Yuka Murayama contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutics, Graduate School of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Toyama, 2630 Sugitani, Toyama, 930-0194, Japan

    Shin-ichi Akanuma, Myeongrae Han, Yuka Murayama, Yoshiyuki Kubo & Ken-ichi Hosoya

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  1. Shin-ichi Akanuma
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  2. Myeongrae Han
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Contributions

S.A., M.H., and Y.M. performed the experiments and analyzed the data; S.A., Y.K., and H.K. designed the experiments; S.A. and K.H. wrote the manuscript. All the authors have read the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Shin-ichi Akanuma or Ken-ichi Hosoya.

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Akanuma, Si., Han, M., Murayama, Y. et al. Differences in Cerebral Distribution between Imipramine and Paroxetine via Membrane Transporters at the Rat Blood-Brain Barrier. Pharm Res 39, 223–237 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-022-03179-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11095-022-03179-0

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