Evaluation of carbamazepine pharmacokinetic profiles in mice with kainic acid-induced acute seizures

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of kainic acid (KA)-induced acute seizures on the pharmacokinetic profiles of antiepileptic drug, carbamazepine (CBZ) in mice. Experimental acute seizure in mice was induced by intraperitoneal injection of KA (30 mg/kg), and mice were provided for experiments after 48 h of KA treatment. The portal plasma concentrations of CBZ and its metabolite carbamazepine-10,11-epoxide (CBZ-epo) had trends to decrease as compared to the control mice, whereas the brain CBZ and CBZ-epo concentrations was actually lower in KA treated mice. On the other hand, the exsorption of CBZ from blood to the intestinal lumen via P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in KA treated-mice was significantly increased in parallel with that of Rhodamine-123 (Rho123), a P-gp substrate. Western blotting analysis for intestinal and cerebral P-gp showed that the P-gp expression was induced in the KA-treated mice. The apparent brain-to-plasma concentration ratio (Kp) of CBZ in the KA-treated mice showed significant decrease but that of CBZ-epo did not. Moreover, in the KA-treated mice, the percentage of protein binding was significantly increased, and found to be an inverse proportion in the relationship between the Kp and protein binding of CBZ. In conclusion, the mechanism responsible for a decreased brain CBZ concentration in the KA-induced seizure mice is based on the up-regulation of Pgp function in tissues and plasma protein binding of CBZ. © 2008 Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.