Pharmaceutics Flashcards
Weak acids have a poor dissolution rate in acidic conditions. How can the dissolution rate be increased?
By increasing the pH of the diffusion layer by forming the alkaline salt of the weak acidic drug
By adding Na+/K+ salts as they dissolve more rapidly than weak acids, regardless of pH of medium
Which is the most common route of permeation for drugs?
Transcellularly as most drugs are lipophilic
Hydrophilic drugs permeate paracellularly through water channels
Is logP dependent on pH or independent of pH?
Independent
What does a logP of 1 indicate?
More soluble in organic phase
What does logP of -1 indicate?
More soluble in aqueous phase
Is logD pH dependent or independent?
Dependent
logP = logD at any pH for unionsed drugs. True or false?
True
How do amino acids stabilise proteins?
By preferential interaction or exclusion
They prevent protein-protein interactions as they bind to the unfolding protein instead
They increase the solubility and reduce viscosity therefore reducing aggregation
How do polymers stabilise proteins?
Cause competitive binding as they adsorb to surfaces instead of the proteins so there is less chance of unfolding and aggregation
How does the acylation of a protein increase its stability?
By adding a fatty acid, it increases its affinity to albumin, resulting in longer acting insulin etc.
Why are monomeric and dimeric forms of insulin better for diabetes treatment that hexameric?
Because they diffuse faster and hence improve transport due to being smaller
they are faster acting on SC administration, are absorbed faster at epithelial barriers and have faster response from infusion pumps
Why are short and rapid acting insulins less variable than other types?
Because of prandial administration, shorter duration of action with reduced extended insulin causing hypos
What factors in NPH insulin cause variability?
Formulated with protamine to create suspensions forming crystals. This means speed of dissociation and so absorption varies
Out of detemir and glargine, which is subject to more variability and why?
Glargine because isoelectric precipitates formed after injection require dissociation. This means greater care is needed with administration i.e. same time, same site, same needle technique.
Detemir is formulated with a fatty acid which stabilises the hexamer meaning slower dissociation and longer-acting. Fatty acid also allows binding to albumin, prolonging circulation levels
How are monoclonal antibodies produced?
Antigens stimulate an immune response, including B cell cloning and hence Ab production
Select the B cell clones that produce the desired Ab.
Fuse B cells with myeloma cells so they become hybridomas
Use robotics to optimise hybridoma growth and hence mAb production
How are fully human recombinant antibodies produced?
4 mouse IgG gene loci coding for 4 protein subunits on the antibody are replaced by human transgenes
the mouse is immunised to raise immune response
B cells selected, hybridomas produced, grown in bioreactor cell to produce human antibodies
After administration of mAbs, where do they distribute to?
Extracellular fluid as they have difficulty penetrating cells due to their large MW and hydrophilicity
What are the primary routes of elimination of mAbs?
Renal clearance and proteolytic catabolism following receptor-mediated endocytosis in the cells of the reticulo-endothelial system
Which receptor is responsible for antibody recycling?
FcRn (Brambell receptor)
Where is the FcRn receptor primarily expressed?
Vascular endothelial cells or RES
Lower levels found on monocyte cell surfaces and dendritic cells
What happens to FcRn receptor at high levels of IgG?
Becomes saturated so IgG starts to degrade i.e. high concentrations of IgG/antibody dose lead to lower half-life
What is the typical half-life of human IgG?
14-21 days
What are the 2 types of ADA?
Binding ADA which cause PK modifications and neutralising ADA which cause PD modifications
Name some ADA risk factors
Product related - homology to endogenous proteins, non-glycosylation
Underlying disease - chronic inflammation
Other meds - immunomodulators
Genetics - HLA
Dosage - higher freq dosing -> ADA formation
What limits the rate of absorption of a drug?
Dissolution - i.e. how quickly a drug is absorbed is dependent on how quickly it is dissolved
How does activity differ between the stomach and SI?
Contents of stomach static until gastric emptying however contents of SI are very active in both fed and fasted states.
How does rate of blood flow in the stomach and SI vary?
Food increase gastric secretions which leads to increased blood flow around stomach
Blood flow in intestines is always fast
Drugs that belong to which BCS classes are eligible for biowaiver?
Class 1
Class 2 - if WA demonstrates high solubility at pH 6.8
Class 3 - if rapidly dissolving
Not Class 4
In BCS, what is meant by highly soluble and highly permeable?
Highly soluble - largest dose soluble in <250ml of water in pH range 1-7.5
Highly permeable - >90% absorption of administered dose
Why is solubility a growing issue in drug development?
Because 40% of NCE are poorly soluble
More drugs made using tech such as throughput screening so aren’t as good in vivo
More reliance on formulation patents addressing solubility issues to extend product life
What are the in vivo consequences of low solubility?
Reduced bioavailability Increase chances of food effects Increased issues during disease states Increased interpatient variability More frequent incomplete release from dose form
What are the in vitro consequences of low solubility?
Limited choice of delivery tech e.g. MR
Poor correlation with in vivo absorption
Increased complexity of dissolution testing
How would you improve the solubility of a BCS class II drug to make it a class I drug?
Addition of surfactants, soluble salts, reduce the particle size, nanoparticles, cyclodextrins
How would you improve the permeability of a BCS class III drug to make it a class I drug?
Permeation enhancers, absorption enhancing excipients, efflux inhibitors, lipid-filled capsules
How would you improve both the solubility and permeability of a class IV drug to make it class I?
Prodrug, salt forms, co-solvents, lyophilisation, nanoparticles