title: Intranasal delivery of PEGylated salmon calcitonins: hypocalcemic effects in rats.
abstract: To evaluate the hypocalcemic effect of polyethylene gtycol-conjugated salmon calcitonins (PEG-sCT) in rats, mono-PEGylated sCTs (mono-PEG-sCTs) and unmodified sCT were administered via the intranasal route and serum calcium levels were measured by colorimetric assay using o-cresolphthalein. Mono-PEG-sCTs were prepared with different sizes of succinimidyl succinate monomethoxy PEG molecules (PEG2K), PEG5K, PEG12K) and characterized by HPLC and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Nasal instillation of mono-PEG2K-sCT at a dose of 2 IU/kg resulted in sustained reduction in serum calcium levels over 8 hr, with a maximum reduction (% maxd) of 13% after 6 hr of application. Whereas unmodified sCT showed a transient decrease in serum calcium levels with the maximum reduction (5%) observed after 30 min of administration. The overall reductions in serum calcium levels expressed as the net change in AUC relative to control in 8 hr were 11.9 +/- 0.2, 4.6 +/- 0.7, and 2.6 +/- 0.7% for mono-PEG2K-, mono-PEG5K-, and mono-PEG12K-sCT, respectively, compared to 3.2 +/- 0.6% for unmodified sCT. The relative bioavailability of nasally administered 2 IU/kg of mono-PEG2K-sCT was approximately 4-fold higher than nasally administrated unmodified sCT, and the absolute bioavailability was approximately 91% of intravenously injected sCT in 8 hr. It can be concluded that the intranasal absorption of mono-PEG-sCTs was inversely related to the molecular weights of the PEG attached. Of the PEGylated sCTs examined, mono-PEG2K-sCT showed the most pronounced hypocalcemic effect. Therefore the intranasal application would probably be an alternative route of administration for mono-PEG-sCTs in achieving sustained calcium-lowering effects.
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000818:Animals; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001682:Biological Availability; D002116:Calcitonin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D002118:Calcium / Q000097:blood; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006996:Hypocalcemia / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced*; D008297:Male; D008970:Molecular Weight; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D011092:Polyethylene Glycols; C028815:salmon calcitonin; D002116:Calcitonin; D002118:Calcium