Transmucosal Delivery of Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone(LHRH): Enzymatic Proteolysis of $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH and Inhibitory Effect of Medium Chain Fatty Acid Salts in Rabbit Mucosa

황체호르몬 유리호르몬(LHRH)의 경점막 수송: 토끼 점막균질액 중에서 $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH의 효소적 분해 특성 및 중쇄지방산염의 안정화 효과

To investigate the feasibility of mucosal delivery of $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH, a potent analogue of LHRH, enzymatic proteolysis of $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH and inhibitory effect of medium chain fatty acid salts(MFA) were studied using rabbit mucosal homogenate. $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH incubated in homogenates of rectal(RE), nasal(NA) and vaginal(VA) mucosa were assayed by HPLC. The degradation of $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH followed the first order kinetics. The degradation products were found as $[D-Ala^6]$ $LHRH^{1-7}$(m-i), to a lesser extent, $[D-Ala^6]$ $LHRH^{1-9}$(m-ii) and $[D-Ala^6]$ $LHRH^{1-3}$(m-iii) by the method of amino acid analysis(PITC method). The formation of$[D-Ala^6]$ $LHRH^{1-7}$ was not inhibited by the addition of disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid but inhibited by sodium tauro-24,25-dihydrofusidate, suggesting that endopeptidase 24.11(EP 24.11) cleaves the $Leu^7-Arg^8$ bond of $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH and is the primary $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH degrading enzyme. The patterns of $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH degradation indicated that EP 24.11 exists in each mucosal homogenate with the order of RE>NA>VA. MFA significantly inhibited the proteolysis of $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH. The addition of sodium caprate(1.0%) or sodium laurate(0.5%) to the each mucosal homogenate completely protected $[D-Ala^6]$ LHRH from the degradation.