Physicochemical properties, bioconversion and disposition of lipophilic prodrugs of 2',3'-dideoxycytidine

Lipophilic prodrugs of 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC), 4,5'-diacetyl-ddC (DAC), 4,5'-ditrimethylacetyl-ddC (DTMAC), 4,5'-dicyclopentylpropionyl-ddC (DCYPP) and 5'-cholesteryl-ddC (CHOL), were evaluated for their utility in improving brain delivery of the parent nucleoside. The lipophilicity of the prodrugs was greater, compared to ddC, with partition coefficient values increasing from 0.03 for ddC to 0.37, 28, 63 and 483 for DAC, DTMAC, DCYPP and CHOL, respectively, Aqueous solubility was decreased proportionally to the increase in lipophilicity, Bioconversion studies were performed in phosphate buffer (pH 7.4), human serum, mouse serum, and mouse brain and liver homogenates, Whereas CHOL was stable in vitro in all media, DAC, DTMAC and DCYPP exhibited stability only in buffer, indicating that the hydrolytic reaction for these compounds was, predominately, enzymatically triggered. DCYPP was rapidly hydrolysed in mouse serum and liver and brain homogenates with degradation half-life values of 0.04, 0.35 and 0.34 h respectively. DAC had a longer half-life in mouse serum than did DTMAC (0.82 h vs, 0.38 h), however, in mouse brain homogenate DTMAC (t(1/2) = 3.9 h) was more stable than DAC (t(1/2) = 1.6 h). Both of these prodrugs were rapidly metabolized in the mouse liver homogenate with halt-life values of 0.36 h for DAC and 0.23 h for DTMAC, In-vivo studies performed for ddC, DAC and DTMAC in mice showed that the relative brain exposure (r(e)) of ddC was not improved by administering the prodrugs. DTMAC yielded a r(e) value of 0.023 which was similar to that for ddC (r(e) = 0.028), while no ddC was detected in brain after DAC administration. Thus, although all of the prodrugs were more lipophilic than ddC, delivery of ddC to the brain was not enhanced in vivo.