Recently, drug discovery strategies, based on the technology of combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening, have often produced compounds with poor water-solubility.1,2) Most of those compounds will drop out as candidates at the pre-formulation or formulation study stage because of their low intestinal absorption despite their high pharmacological activity in vitro. Therefore, the investigation of new dosage formulations for poorly water-soluble compounds will contribute to drug development.Since a new oral dosage formulation for an immunosuppressant drug (cyclosporine A), named "Neoral R ", was developed and used clinically, 3) lipid-based formulations 4,5) to improve the oral absorption of poorly water-soluble drugs have received considerable attention in the pharmaceutical industry. Neoral R contains various ingredients to form an emulsion in the intestinal tract and works as a Self-microemulsifying drug delivery system (SMEDDS).6) This system is regarded as an advanced system of lipid-based formulations. As SMEDDS generally consists of lipid(s) and surfactant(s), these components may affect the absorption mechanism of poorly water-soluble drugs. However, the disposition of lipidbased formulation components in the intestinal tract has not yet been clarified.In this study, we investigated the role of lipid-based formulation components for the intestinal absorption of poorly water-soluble drug by focusing on the disposition of the formulation after oral administration. , the mixture of saturated polyglycolized glyceride and mono-or di-fatty acid esters of polyethylene glycol (Lauroyl macrogol-32 glycerides), was a kind gift from Gattefosse (Gennevilliers Cedex, France). All other chemicals used were of analytical grade.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
MaterialsPreparation of Lipid-Based Formulations SG (M.W. 418.5), an anthraquinone derivative, was used as a poorly water-soluble model compound. This compound is a poorly water-soluble dye, and its logP value was 7.40. Soybean oil emulsion was prepared by the conventional method. 7) Briefly, 3 mg of SG was added to 0.5 ml of soybean oil preheated at 60°C in a hot water bath and dissolved completely. 0.25 ml of Tween 80 and 4.25 ml of distilled water were added to the oil and sonicated at 20 W for 5 min using an Ultrasonic Disrupter UD-201, Tomy Co. (Tokyo, Japan). For SMEDDS, 3 mg of SG was dissolved in 5 ml of Gelucire 44/14 R preheated at 60°C in a hot water bath. It was then cooled down immediately before use because Gelucire 44/14 R becomes semi-solid at room temperature.In Vivo Oral Administration to Rats All animal experiments were approved by the Animal Experimentation Committee of Osaka University of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Male Wistar rats weighing 300-350 g were obtained from Japan SLC, Inc. (Shizuoka, Japan). The day before the experiment, the rats were lightly anesthetized with ether, and were implanted surgically with a combination of Phicon (Fuji Systems Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) and PE50 (Clay Adams, Parsippany, NJ, U.S.A.) in a catheter, which was ins...