A simple and quick method based on the transient diffusion theory for predicting the steady state rate of penetration of a drug after transdermal drug administration was proposed. The amount of drug entering the stratum corneum was determined by 20 strippings with an adhesive tape. From the profile of the amount of drug as a function of the number of strippings, the quantity of drug on the surface of stratum corneum was extrapolated. Based on the amounts of drug entering the stratum corneum during two time intervals $(t_1\;and\;t_2)$ within 1 hour after the application, the diffusion and partition coefficient were determined. Once the diffusion coefficient of the drug in the stratum corneum and the partition coefficient (stratum corneum/vehicle) were determined from the present approach, the steady-state flux of penetration across the stratum corneum was calculated. The steady-state rates of penetration of ascorbic acid and estradiol across hairless mouse skin were evaluated from this approach and compared with those obtained from ill vitro penetration experiment using excised hairless mouse skin. The data confirmed that the proposed method can predict the steady-state rate of penetration of these drugs across the stratum corneum.

Sugar spheres loaded with melatonin (MT) were coated with $Aquacoat^{\circledR}$ to control the release rate of MT over 8 hours. A zero-order release pattern over 8 hours was obtained with 20% coating on 8-10 mesh beads in USP basket dissolution studies. MT in 20% coated beads was quite stable at room temperature with less than 5% MT degraded during 6 months' storage. Dissolution profiles were also unchanged after 6 months. An oral preparation containing MT-loaded uncoated beads for immediate release and 20% coated beads with $Aquacoat^{\circledR}$ for controlled release over 8 hours was evaluated in six human subjects. When total 0.5 mg MT as low dose (immediate release portion of MT, 0.1 mg) was administered to four subjects, average peak plasma MT concentration was reached at about 600 pg/ml and maintained at about 10 pg/ml over 8 hours. Plasma MT concentration-time profiles were similar in shape to computer-simulated profiles. However, maximal plasma MT concentrations were three times greater compared to computer simulated curve. These results suggest that MT dose, ratio of immediate and controlled release MT, and pharmacokinetic parameters selected are adjusted to mimic endogenous MT concentration-time curve. In another study, 0.2 mg MT having 10% of immediate release portion and 80% controlled release portion produced plasma MT concentration-time curve which is more similar to endogenous profiles. A low bioavailability (<20%) may result from extensive first pass metabolism and remaining amounts of MT from controlled beads. A good correlation between plasma MT concentration and urinary excretion rate of 6-sulphatoxymelatonin (6-STMT), a major metabolite of MT was observed. As plasma MT concentration increased, urinary excretion rate of 6-STMT increased concomitantly. The linear relation between plasma MT and urinary excretion rate of 6-STMT was statistically significant. This result suggests that urinary 6-STMT may be used as an index of circadian rhythms of MT in humans.

The influence of emulsion type of tegafur, an oral anticancer agent, on lymphatic transport was studied in rats. The water-in-oil-type of emulsion and the oil-in-water-type emulsion of tegafur each in 50 mg, calculated in terms of tegafur, were prepared by adding tegafur aqueous solution to sesame oil containing hydrogenated castor oil following ultrasonic treatment, and then the prepared emulsions and aqueous solution as a comparative formulation were administered orally to rats (50 mg/5 ml/kg). The concentration levels of tegafur in plasma of femoral artery and lymph from thoracic duct cannula were measured simultaneously along a time course after administration and the pharmacokinetic parameters were investigated. At the same time, we examined the above described factors of 5-FU which is known as an active metabolite of tegafur. In comparison with tegafur solution, AUC and mean residence time of plasma tegafur were significantly increased in w/o-emulsion but significantly decreased in o/w-emulsion. Lymph flow rates were similar in both solution and w/o-emulsion but half in o/w-emulsion. Ratios between area under the lymph and plasma concentration time curves were always less than 1 reflecting the passive lymphatic delivery after oral administration of the prepared tegafur emulsions, but those to the 5-FU in the case of w/o-emulsion were more than 1. These results suggested that lymphatic delivery of tegafur by w/o-emulsion was more effective than that by o/w-emulsion due to its differences of formation ability of chylomicrons.

It is essential to clone the peptide transporter in order to obtain better understanding of its molecular structure, regulation, and substrate specificity. Characteristics of an endogenous peptide transporter in oocytes were studied along with expression of an exogenous proton/peptide cotransporter from rabbit intestine. And further efforts toward cloning the transporter were performed. The presence of an endogenous peptide transporter was detected in Xenopus laevis oocytes by measuring the uptake of $0.25\;{\mu}M\;(10\;{\mu}Ci/ml)\;[^3H]-glycylsarcosine$ (Gly-Sar) at pH 5.5 with or without inhibitors. Uptake of Gly-Sar in oocytes was significantly inhibited by 25 mM Ala-Ala, Gly-Gly, and Gly-Sar (p<0.05), but not by 2.5 mM of Glu-Glu, Ala-Ala, Gly-Gly, Gly-Sar and 25 mM glycine and sarcosine. This result suggests that a selective transporter is involved in the endogenous uptake of dipeptides. Collagenase treatment of oocytes used to strip oocytes from ovarian follicles did not affect the Gly-Sar uptake. Changing pH from 5.5 to 7.5 did not affect the Gly-Sar uptake significantly, suggesting no dependence of the endogenous transporter on a transmembrane proton gradient. An exogenous $H^+/peptide$ cotransporter was expressed after microinjection of polyadenylated messenger ribonucleic acid $[poly\;(A)^+-mRNA]$ obtained from rabbit small intestine. The Gly-Sar uptake in mRNA-injected oocytes was 9 times higher than that in water-injected oocytes. Thus, frog oocytes can be utilized for expression cloning of the genes encoding intestinal $H^+/peptide$ cotransporters. Using the technique size fractionation of mRNA was sucessfully obtained.

The iontophoretic delivery across rat skin of quaternary ammonium salts (isopropamide: ISP, pyridostigmine: PS), which are positively charged over a wide pH range, was measured ill vitro. The study showed that: (a) iontophoresis significantly enhanced delivery of ISP and PS compared to respective passive transport; (b) delivery of ISP and PS was directly proportional to the applied continuous direct current density over the range of $0-0.69\;mA/cm^2;$ (c) delivery of ISP and PS was also proportional to the drug concentration in the donor compartment over the range of $0-2{\time}l0^{-2}M:$ (d) sodium ion in the donor compartment inhibited the drug transport possibly due to decreasing the electric transference number of the drug; (e) delivery of ISP and PS increased as the pH of the donor solution increased over the pH range 2-7 suggesting permselective nature of the epidermis, and inhibition of the transference number of the drugs by hydronium ion; (f) some organic anions such as taurodeoxycholate, salicylate and benzoate which form lipophilic ion-pair complexes with ISP inhibited the delivery of ISP. The degree of inhibition by the organic anions was linearly proportional to the extraction coefficient $(K_e)$ of ISP from the partition system with each counteranion between phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) and n-octanol. For PS, however, taurodeoxycholate, but not salicylate and benzoate inhibited the iontophoretic delivery. It suggests that not only sodium ion and hydronium ion but also the counteranions which form lipophilic ion-pairs with quaternary ammonium drugs are not favorable components in formulating the donor solution of the drugs to achieve an effective iontophoretic delivery.