title: Diffusion of reduced arecoline and arecaidine through human vaginal and buccal mucosa.
abstract: Because alkaloids from areca nut, arecoline and arecaidine, have been implicated in the development of oral submucous fibrosis, we determined their diffusion kinetics through human buccal and vaginal mucosa. Four clinically healthy vaginal mucosa specimens (mean patient age +/- standard deviation: 47 +/- 15 years; age range: 31-60 years) and 4 buccal mucosa specimens from 2 male patients and 2 female patients (mean patient age +/- standard deviation: 31 +/- 9 years; age range: 17-53 years) were obtained during surgery. In vitro flux rates of reduced arecoline and arecaidine (r-arecoline and r-arecaidine) were determined by use of a flow-through diffusion apparatus. Analysis of variance, a Duncan multiple range test, and an unpaired t-test were used to determine steady state kinetics and flux differences over time intervals. Although statistically significant differences were observed between flux values for both alkaloids and tissues at certain time points, these were not considered to be of biological (clinical) significance. However, the flux rates across both mucosa of r-arecoline were significantly higher statistically than those of rarecaidine. The findings demonstrated the differences in the diffusion kinetics between r-arecoline and r-arecaidine across human buccal and vaginal mucosa, an observation that could be explained in terms of their ionisation characteristics. Additionally, the results obtained further support the hypothesis that human vaginal mucosa can be used as a model for buccal mucosa in studies of permeability to various chemical compounds.
authors: Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, South Africa.
authors: Van der Bijl
authors: A D
authors: AD
authors: Van Eyk
authors: C W
authors: CW
authors: Van Wyk
authors: I A
authors: IA
authors: Stander
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001114:Areca; D001115:Arecoline / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D018679:Cholinergic Agonists / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D004058:Diffusion; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D009092:Mucous Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D010539:Permeability; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013997:Time Factors; D014621:Vagina / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D018679:Cholinergic Agonists; C015688:arecaidine; D001115:Arecoline