SYNOPSISThe interaction between naproxen (NP) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) was investigated by equilibrium dialysis. Since the binding constant of NP to BSA was independent of ionic strength and decreased with increase of alkyl chain length of fatty acid added, the interaction between NP and BSA was considered to be due to hydrophobic mechanism. Chemical shifts in 'H-NMR spectra of NP were independent of the concentration of NP and addition of BSA. Spin-lattice relaxation time (TI) and spin-spin relaxation time ( T z ) of respective protons of NP were independent of the concentration, but depended on the concentration of BSA added. The binding position of N P to BSA was considered to involve the hydrophobic aromatic moiety of NP from the ratio of spin-spin relaxation rates
I NTRO DUCT1 0 NIn the series of studies concerning interaction between drugs and water-soluble polymers,'-7 equilibrium dialysis was the conventional method to study the binding constant (k), the number (n) of binding sites, and the nature of binding (hydrophobic or hydrophilic). On the other hand, NMR especially the ratio of the spin-spin relaxation rate (l/Tz) of the free drug to that of the bound drug was the most useful parameter to determine the binding position of the drug with bovine serum albumin (BSA)2-5. In the early study: the Tz value was estimated from peak width at half height, which contained an error from inhomogeneity of magnetic field. In order to avoid this error, Hahng devised the spin-echo method. Furthermore, the Carr-Purcell-MeiboomGill (CPMG) method'" was developed in order to overcome the effect of molecular diffusion and phase distortion which occurred in the spin-echo method. However, there are two controversial ~~ * To whom all correspondence should be addressed. points in CPMG method. One is the deformation of phase by J-modulation, and the other is the modulation induced by repeated application of the A pulse. In our experiments, the A pulses were applied at time intervals short enough to prevent the modulation. Unfortunately, a high concentration ( 5 mmol/L) of the drug was required because of low sensitivity of NMR. While the concentration (= 0.1 mmol/L) of BSA should be lower than that of the drug because broad peaks in NMR spectrum were observed under high concentration comparable to the drug. It was known that BSA had a globular molecular structure folding hydrophobic aromatic parts inward," and that hydrophobic binding of the drug with BSA decreased by chemical modification of tryptophan and tyrosine on molecular surface of BSA.12 In the presence of BSA, each peak on the NMR spectrum was not shown by superposition of narrow peak for free state and broad peak for bound state; instead it was single peak as weighted average of both states, so that rapid exchange between both states was considered. Therefore, the binding position of the drug to BSA could be determined even if the ratio of the concentration of the drug to that of protein was large (E 50). In