Purpose. Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) damages remote organs, including the liver, and promotes multi-organ failure (MOF). However, the molecular mechanisms underlying acute liver injury after intestinal I/R have not been completely elucidated. Farnesoid X receptor (FXR), pregnane X receptor (PXR) and constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) regulate metabolizing enzymes and transporters, and coordinately prevent hepatotoxicity reflecting an inability of appropriate excretion of endogenous toxic compounds. In this study, we assessed FXR, PXR and CAR expression levels and their localization levels in nuclei in the liver after intestinal I/R. We also investigated the effect of IL-6 on FXR, PXR and CAR expression levels and their localization levels in nuclei in in vitro experiments. Methods. We used intestinal I/R model rats. Moreover, HepG2 cells were used in in vitro study. Real-time PCR and Western blotting were used to assess mRNA and protein expression levels. Nuclear receptor localization in nuclei was analyzed by Western blotting using nuclear extracts. Results. FXR and PXR expression levels began to be decreased at 3 h, and FXR, PXR and CAR expression levels were decreased at 6 h after intestinal I/R. The localization levels of FXR, PXR and CAR in nuclei began to be decreased at 3 h, and all of them were decreased at 6 h after intestinal I/R. In HepG2 cells, FXR, PXR and CAR expression levels were decreased by 0.5-1 ng/mL, 0.5-100 ng/mL and 100 ng/mL IL-6 treatment for 24 h, respectively. FXR, PXR and CAR localization levels in nuclei were suppressed by 0.5-10 ng/mL, 10-100 ng/mL and 10-100 ng/mL IL-6 treatment for 24 h, respectively. Conclusions. FXR, PXR and CAR expression levels are decreased in the liver after intestinal I/R. IL-6 is one of main causes the decreases in expressions of these receptors. This article is open to POST-PUBLICATION REVIEW. Registered readers (see “For Readers”) may comment by clicking on ABSTRACT on the issue’s contents page.

Docetaxel is a taxane family antineoplastic agent widely employed in cancer chemotherapy. We developed a liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of docetaxel in human plasma. Plasma samples were deproteinized by acetonitrile containing internal standard paclitaxel. Chromatographic separation was performed on a TSKgel ODS-100 V 3 μm (50 mm × 2.0 mm i.d.) column using a mobile phase composed of acetonitrile-methanol-water-formic acid (50:5:45:0.1, v/v/v/v). Detection was performed on a triple-quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode via electrospray ionization (ESI) source. This method covered a linearity range of 5-5000 ng/mL with the lower limit of quantification of 5 ng/mL. The intra-day precision and inter-day precision (R.S.D.) of analysis were less than 6.7%, and the accuracy (R.E.) was within ± 9.0% at the concentrations of 5, 20, 200, and 2000 ng/mL. The total run time was 5.0 min. This method was successfully applied for clinical pharmacokinetic investigation.

A column-switching liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry to determine paclitaxel and its metabolites, 6α-hydroxypaclitaxel and p-3'-hydroxypaclitaxel, in human plasma was developed. The analytical system had a Shim-Pack MAYI-ODS (10 × 4.6 mm i.d.) trapping column with deproteinization ability that concentrates analytes and removes water-soluble components. This method covered a linearity range of 5-5000 ng/mL of concentrations in plasma for paclitaxel, a range of 0.87-870 ng/mL for 6α-hydroxypaclitaxel and a range of 0.87-435 ng/mL for p-3'-hydroxypaclitaxel. The intra-day precision and inter-day precision of analysis were less than 11.1%, and the accuracy was within ±14.4% at concentrations of 5, 50, 500 and 5000 ng/mL for paclitaxel, 0.87, 8.7, 87 and 870 ng/mL for 6α-hydroxypaclitaxel, and 0.87, 8.7, 87 and 435 ng/mL for p-3'-hydroxypaclitaxel. The total run time was 30 min. Our method was successfully applied to clinical pharmacokinetic investigation.

1Oxaliplatin is a platinum agent that is used for treatment of colorectal cancer. A sensitive and 2 selective hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric method for the 3 quantification of oxaliplatin was developed. Human plasma ultrafiltrates were precipitated by 4 acetonitrile containing carboplatin as an internal standard and further diluted with acetonitrile. 5Chromatographic separation of oxaliplatin and the internal standard was achieved with a column 6 modified with phosphorylcholine and an isocratic mobile phase (acetonitrile/water/acetic acid = 7 90:10:0.1, v/v/v) at the flow rate of 0.2 mL/min. The lower limit of quantification for oxaliplatin was 8 25 ng/mL. The linearity range of the method was from 25 to 5000 ng/mL. The intra-day precision 9 and inter-day precision (RSD) ranged from 0.8 to 6.1%, and the accuracy (RE) was within ±4.5%. 10The extraction recoveries from human plasma ultrafiltrates were 83.6-91.6%, and ion suppression 11 caused by matrix components was 86.7-88.5% at three different levels, respectively. This method 12 was applied to a clinical pharmacokinetic study of oxaliplatin in a cancer patient. The maximum 13 concentration of colorectal cancer patient administered oxaliplatin was 1650 ng/mL.