A substância 3-O-α-arabinofuranosil-quercetina (avicularina) é um flavonol já relatado em uma grande variedade de espécies vegetais, podendo ser encontrada em diversas frutas e plantas medicinais. Neste trabalho o flavonóide foi isolado da espécie Bidens sulphurea, popularmente conhecida como cosmo-amarelo, picãogrande e áster-do-méxico, com pureza de 93,27%. O flavonóide avicularina apresenta diversas propriedades biológicas descritas na literatura, e estudos científicos que comprovam a eficácia deste composto. No entanto não há estudos que avaliem os mecanismos que envolvem a farmacocinética (ADME) deste flavonóide, bem como sua biodisponibilidade. Sendo assim este trabalho teve como objetivo a determinação dos perfis farmacocinéticos de absorção da avicularina em ratos na presença e ausência de sais biliares e inibidor da glicoproteína-P, pelo ensaio de perfusão intestinal in situ. Neste trabalho também foi realizado a avaliação do perfil farmacocinético de distribuição e eliminação através de administração intravascular do flavonóide avicularina na dose de 1mg/kg em ratos. Para ambos os ensaios um método analítico sensível por CLUE-DAD-EM/EM foi desenvolvido e validado obedecendo às diretrizes do guia para validação de métodos bioanalíticos da ANVISA. Os ensaios de absorção com este flavonóide revelaram que sua taxa de absorção intestinal é baixa, em torno de 30% para as duas doses testadas (1 e 5 mg/kg), sugerindo uma baixa biodisponibilidade para este flavonóide. No entanto na presença do inibidor de glicoproteína-P, verapamil, o percentual absorvido final de avicularina foi de aproximadamente 80%, o que sugere o envolvimento de proteínas de efluxo em sua absorção. Através do estudo de farmacocinética com administração intravascular de avicularina pudemos concluir que o perfil farmacocinético do flavonóide em questão é bicompartimental, e possui rápida distribuição e eliminação do organismo, sendo o t ½α de 8 minutos e t ½β de 45 minutos, e, portanto baixa afinidade por tecidos, sendo baixa ou numa sua acumulação tecidual. / The compound 3-O-α-arabinofuranosyl-quercetin (avicularin) is a flavonol already reported in a wide variety of plant species and can be found in many fruits and medicinal plants. In this work the flavonoid was isolated from the species Bidens sulphurea, popularly known as yellow cosmos and aster of mexico, with 93.27% of purity. The flavonoid avicularin has several biological properties described in the literature, and several scientific studies that prove the efficacy of this compound. However there are no studies that evaluate the mechanisms involving the pharmacokinetics (ADME) of this flavonoid as well as its bioavailability. Thus, this study aimed to determine the pharmacokinetic profiles of avicularin absorption in rats in the presence and absence of bile salts and inhibitor of P-glycoprotein by in situ intestinal perfusion technique. This work was also performed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile of distribution and elimination through intravascular administration of the flavonoid avicularina at the dose of 1mg/kg in rats. For both studies a sensitive analytical UPLC-DAD/MS/MS method was developed and validated following the guidelines of the Guide for the validation of bioanalytical methods of ANVISA. The absorption assays have shown that with this flavonoid its intestinal absorption rate is low, around 30% for both tested doses (1 and 5 mg / kg), suggesting a low bioavailability of this flavonoid. However in the presence of Pglycoprotein inhibitors, verapamil, the percentage of absorbed avicularina was approximately 80%, suggesting the involvement of protein efflux in the absorption. Through pharmacokinetic study with intravascular administration of avicularin we could concluded that the pharmacokinetic profile of the flavonoid in question is twocompartmental model, and has quickly distribution and elimination of the organism, being the t ½α of 8 minutes, and t ½β of 45 minutes, thus this compound has low affinity for tissues, with low or none tissue accumulation.

A substância 3-O-α-arabinofuranosil-quercetina (avicularina) é um flavonol já relatado em uma grande variedade de espécies vegetais, podendo ser encontrada em diversas frutas e plantas medicinais. Neste trabalho o flavonóide foi isolado da espécie Bidens sulphurea, popularmente conhecida como cosmo-amarelo, picãogrande e áster-do-méxico, com pureza de 93,27%. O flavonóide avicularina apresenta diversas propriedades biológicas descritas na literatura, e estudos científicos que comprovam a eficácia deste composto. No entanto não há estudos que avaliem os mecanismos que envolvem a farmacocinética (ADME) deste flavonóide, bem como sua biodisponibilidade. Sendo assim este trabalho teve como objetivo a determinação dos perfis farmacocinéticos de absorção da avicularina em ratos na presença e ausência de sais biliares e inibidor da glicoproteína-P, pelo ensaio de perfusão intestinal in situ. Neste trabalho também foi realizado a avaliação do perfil farmacocinético de distribuição e eliminação através de administração intravascular do flavonóide avicularina na dose de 1mg/kg em ratos. Para ambos os ensaios um método analítico sensível por CLUE-DAD-EM/EM foi desenvolvido e validado obedecendo às diretrizes do guia para validação de métodos bioanalíticos da ANVISA. Os ensaios de absorção com este flavonóide revelaram que sua taxa de absorção intestinal é baixa, em torno de 30% para as duas doses testadas (1 e 5 mg/kg), sugerindo uma baixa biodisponibilidade para este flavonóide. No entanto na presença do inibidor de glicoproteína-P, verapamil, o percentual absorvido final de avicularina foi de aproximadamente 80%, o que sugere o envolvimento de proteínas de efluxo em sua absorção. Através do estudo de farmacocinética com administração intravascular de avicularina pudemos concluir que o perfil farmacocinético do flavonóide em questão é bicompartimental, e possui rápida distribuição e eliminação do organismo, sendo o t ½α de 8 minutos e t ½β de 45 minutos, e, portanto baixa afinidade por tecidos, sendo baixa ou numa sua acumulação tecidual. / The compound 3-O-α-arabinofuranosyl-quercetin (avicularin) is a flavonol already reported in a wide variety of plant species and can be found in many fruits and medicinal plants. In this work the flavonoid was isolated from the species Bidens sulphurea, popularly known as yellow cosmos and aster of mexico, with 93.27% of purity. The flavonoid avicularin has several biological properties described in the literature, and several scientific studies that prove the efficacy of this compound. However there are no studies that evaluate the mechanisms involving the pharmacokinetics (ADME) of this flavonoid as well as its bioavailability. Thus, this study aimed to determine the pharmacokinetic profiles of avicularin absorption in rats in the presence and absence of bile salts and inhibitor of P-glycoprotein by in situ intestinal perfusion technique. This work was also performed to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profile of distribution and elimination through intravascular administration of the flavonoid avicularina at the dose of 1mg/kg in rats. For both studies a sensitive analytical UPLC-DAD/MS/MS method was developed and validated following the guidelines of the Guide for the validation of bioanalytical methods of ANVISA. The absorption assays have shown that with this flavonoid its intestinal absorption rate is low, around 30% for both tested doses (1 and 5 mg / kg), suggesting a low bioavailability of this flavonoid. However in the presence of Pglycoprotein inhibitors, verapamil, the percentage of absorbed avicularina was approximately 80%, suggesting the involvement of protein efflux in the absorption. Through pharmacokinetic study with intravascular administration of avicularin we could concluded that the pharmacokinetic profile of the flavonoid in question is twocompartmental model, and has quickly distribution and elimination of the organism, being the t ½α of 8 minutes, and t ½β of 45 minutes, thus this compound has low affinity for tissues, with low or none tissue accumulation.

The use of nanomaterials (NMs) in orally ingestible products raises concerns about potential hazards. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) particles (of which some are incidentally produced at the nanoscale) are used in cosmetics, biological remediation (photo-catalysis), toothpastes, ingestible pharmaceuticals and food products. The increased surface area to mass ratio of nanoparticles (NPs) potentially makes them more biologically reactive than their coarser (bulk) material counterparts. There is limited data available on the uptake kinetics across the mammalian gastrointestinal tract, and the potential hazard posed to humans. In this study, the uptake and accumulation of TiO2 (nano and bulk) into and across the human intestinal cell line, the isolated perfused rat jejunum and the whole rat were evaluated. Caco-2 monolayers exhibited time-dependent, accumulation, uptake and transport of Ti/TiO2 from TiO2 exposures of 1 mg L-1 over 24 h, which was influenced by the crystal type, irrespective of cell maturity and growth substrate (Chapters 2-3). Electron micrographs of the Caco-2 monolayer showed the presence of particles inside the cells within vesicles and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) confirmed the composition as TiO2. Addition of pharmacological inhibitors altered the Ti concentration in the cells suggesting diffusion is not the primary mechanism of uptake, rather, an active process is responsible (Chapter 2). Whole gut sacs exposures of 1 mg L-1 bulk or nano TiO2 demonstrated the primary regions of the gut associated with accumulation are the small and large intestine, with 70 % or more of the TiO2 accumulating in the mucosa rather than the underlying muscularis. Perfused intestines exposed to 1 mg L-1 bulk or nano TiO2 for 4 h showed a time-dependent accumulation of Ti in the serosal perfusate with the initial rates of Ti flux from the nano exposures being 5 fold higher than the bulk form. Addition of pharmacological inhibitors caused increases in tissue Ti concentration and significantly reduced Ti serosal flux rates for NP exposures. Overall, the data suggests an active absorption mechanism is responsible for Ti uptake from both bulk and nano TiO2 exposures across the perfused rat intestine that is drug sensitive (Chapter 4). In vivo work demonstrated feed status and rat age effected Ti tissue concentrations. Critically, Ti tissue concentrations reduced with increasing age and removal of Ti containing feed caused transient decreases in Ti tissue concentrations in 23 day old rats. Transient decreases in Ti tissue concentration following feed removal were not observed in older rats suggesting young rats may be more sensitive to the uptake hazards presented by titanium (Chapter 5). Overall, the findings presented in this thesis demonstrate Ti/TiO2 from both bulk and nano TiO2 exposures are accumulated and transported across intestinal epithelium and these processes are drug sensitive and affected by crystal structure and particle size. The results in this thesis have contributed to a better understanding of the uptake kinetics and sub-lethal hazards presented by bulk and nano forms of TiO2 exposed to intestinal epithelium which could be used to partially inform policy makers on human dietary risk assessments.

<p>The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the in vivo relevance of membrane transporters and cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4-mediated metabolism in the intestine and liver for the bioavailability of drugs in humans after oral administration.</p><p>In the first part of the thesis, the main transport mechanisms involved in the intestinal absorption and bioavailability were investigated for fexofenadine, a minimally metabolized drug, which is a substrate for P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and members of organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) family. Jejunal perfusion studies revealed that co-perfusion with verapamil increased the bioavailability of fexofenadine by decreasing the first-pass liver extraction as the low intestinal permeability was unchanged by the transport inhibitors studied. The mechanism behind the interaction probably involves inhibition of OATP-mediated sinusoidal uptake and/or P-gp-mediated canalicular secretion of fexofenadine. Results from the Caco-2 model supported that the intestinal absorption of fexofenadine is mainly determined by the low passive permeability of the drug, even though fexofenadine clearly is a P-gp substrate. </p><p>In the second part of the thesis, the effect of repeated oral administration of the P-gp and CYP3A4 inducer St. John’s wort on the in vivo intestinal permeability and presystemic metabolism of the dual P-gp and CYP3A4 substrate verapamil was investigated in a jejunal perfusion study. St. John’s wort decreased the bioavailability of the enantiomers of verapamil by inducing the CYP3A4-mediated presystemic metabolism, probably mainly in the gut. It was also concluded that induction of efflux transporters, such as P-gp, does not affect the intestinal transport or the gut wall extraction of high permeability substrates like verapamil. Data from Caco-2 cells with induced CYP3A4-activity supported these findings. The plasma levels of the enantiomers of norverapamil also decreased despite an increased formation, which was attributed to induction of CYP3A4 and/or other metabolic routes. </p>

The main objective of this thesis was to investigate the in vivo relevance of membrane transporters and cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4-mediated metabolism in the intestine and liver for the bioavailability of drugs in humans after oral administration. In the first part of the thesis, the main transport mechanisms involved in the intestinal absorption and bioavailability were investigated for fexofenadine, a minimally metabolized drug, which is a substrate for P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and members of organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) family. Jejunal perfusion studies revealed that co-perfusion with verapamil increased the bioavailability of fexofenadine by decreasing the first-pass liver extraction as the low intestinal permeability was unchanged by the transport inhibitors studied. The mechanism behind the interaction probably involves inhibition of OATP-mediated sinusoidal uptake and/or P-gp-mediated canalicular secretion of fexofenadine. Results from the Caco-2 model supported that the intestinal absorption of fexofenadine is mainly determined by the low passive permeability of the drug, even though fexofenadine clearly is a P-gp substrate. In the second part of the thesis, the effect of repeated oral administration of the P-gp and CYP3A4 inducer St. John’s wort on the in vivo intestinal permeability and presystemic metabolism of the dual P-gp and CYP3A4 substrate verapamil was investigated in a jejunal perfusion study. St. John’s wort decreased the bioavailability of the enantiomers of verapamil by inducing the CYP3A4-mediated presystemic metabolism, probably mainly in the gut. It was also concluded that induction of efflux transporters, such as P-gp, does not affect the intestinal transport or the gut wall extraction of high permeability substrates like verapamil. Data from Caco-2 cells with induced CYP3A4-activity supported these findings. The plasma levels of the enantiomers of norverapamil also decreased despite an increased formation, which was attributed to induction of CYP3A4 and/or other metabolic routes.