Osteotropic drug delivery system (ODDS) based on bisphosphonic prodrug. III: Pharmacokinetics and targeting characteristics of osteotropic carboxyfluorescein.

An osteotropic drug delivery system (ODDS) based on a bisphosphonic prodrug has been developed as a novel method for site-specific and controlled delivery of drugs to the bone. The pharmacokinetics and the targeting efficiency of a bisphosphonic prodrug of carboxyfluorescein (CF), disodium (fluorescein-6-carbonyloxy) acetoaminomethylene bisphosphonate (CF-BP), was investigated in rats. After intravenous injection, CF-BP was rapidly taken up into the skeleton, and subsequently cleared from the bone by hydrolysis of its ester linkage at a half-life of 3.2 days. On the other hand, the bone concentration of regenerated CF gradually increased to reach the maximum at 14 days and slowly decreased up to 56 days. Kinetical analysis revealed that bone tissue acts as a reservoir of regenerated CF to supply the parent compound into the systemic circulation. In contrast with CF-BP, CF injected intravenously showed rapid clearance from the plasma and extremely low bone distribution. Therapeutic availability (TA) and drug targeting index (DTI), which were calculated on the basis of the AUCs for CF in the bone and plasma after injection of CF-BP and CF, were 1551 and 6689, respectively. These results suggest that ODDS has a potential to improve not only apparent potency but also therapeutic index of the drugs which exhibit their pharmacological effects in the bone.