Purpose: The objective of this study is to examine the intestinal permeability of novel lipophilic derivatives of DADLE (Tyr-D-Ala-Gly-Phe-D-Leu), an enkephalin analogue, using isolated rat intestinal membranes.
Methods: The novel lipophilic derivatives of DADLE were synthesized by chemical modification with various fatty acids at the C terminus. The pharmacological activities of these DADLE derivatives were assessed by a hot plate test. The intestinal permeability of these derivatives was estimated by the in vitro Ussing chamber method.
Results: We obtained four different DADLE derivatives including acetyl-DADLE (DADLE-C2), butyryl-DADLE (DADLE-C4), caproyl-DADLE (DADLE-C6), and caprylyl-DADLE (DADLE-C8). All the derivatives of DADLE had at least 75% of the activity of native DADLE, suggesting that chemical modification of DADLE at the C terminus did not markedly affect its pharmacological activity. These DADLE derivatives were more stable than native DADLE in jejunal and colonic homogenates. A "bell-shaped" profile was observed between the apparent permeability coefficients (Papp) of DADLE derivatives and lipophilicity. In particular, DADLE-C4 had the greatest permeability characteristics across the intestinal membrane of the acyl derivatives studied in this experiment. The permeability of DADLE-C4 across the jejunal membrane was further improved in the presence of puromycin, amastatin, and sodium glycocholate (NaGC), all at a concentration of 0.5 mM.
Conclusions: We suggest that the combination of chemical modification with butyric acid and the application of a protease inhibitor are effective for improving the absorption of DADLE across the intestinal membrane.