Transport of Glyburide by Placental ABC Transporters: Implications in Fetal Drug Exposure
Introduction
The placenta plays an important role as a site for nutrient and waste exchange between the mother and the fetus and may serve as a protective barrier for the fetus against maternal blood-borne toxins. Much evidence has demonstrated that the placenta expresses a number of transporters, some of which function in the removal of endogenous compounds and xenobiotics. Specifically, several of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, P-glycoprotein (PGP), the multidrug resistance-associated proteins 1–3 (MRP1, MRP2, MRP3) and the breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) are highly expressed in placental tissues [20]. It is believed that these transporters may profoundly limit the passage of therapeutic or toxic xenobiotics into the fetus. Fundamental studies in PGP and BCRP deficient mice, demonstrating increased fetal drug accumulation and increased teratogenicity, have clearly established the importance of placental transporters in fetal drug exposure [9], [10]. However, to date the impact of transporters on fetal exposure has been studied for only a few xenobiotics.
Gestational diabetes affects up to 20% of pregnant women. Untreated, it is associated with serious increases in perinatal risks [1]. The mainstay of management is diet and insulin injections. However, many women do not comply with insulin injections and the cost of insulin is prohibitive in many countries. Due to fears of neonatal hypoglycemia, there has been only limited use of oral hypoglycemics in pregnancy. Interestingly a drug used to treat gestational diabetes, glyburide (also known as glibenclamide), does not appear to demonstrate significant maternal to fetal transfer. In vitro studies by Elliot et al. [28] demonstrated negligible levels of glyburide in the fetal compartment even when maternal concentrations were eight times greater than therapeutic concentrations. Moreover, offspring of mothers treated with glyburide reportedly do not exhibit hypoglycemia or other adverse events [1]. Glyburide's poor maternal to fetal transfer may be due to its high protein binding (99.8%) but it may also be due to interaction of glyburide with ABC efflux transporters expressed within the placenta [11], [23]. Recently, we have demonstrated in placental perfusion studies that glyburide is effluxed against its concentration gradient from the fetal to the maternal circulation, and that inhibition of PGP activity with verapamil does not impact its transport across the placenta [23].
Presently, there is little knowledge on the mechanisms by which glyburide is transported across epithelial cell membranes and there is a lack of clinically-relevant studies regarding its transport. Although it has been recently shown by Payen et al. [18] that glyburide inhibits MRP1 and MRP2 activity in human cancer cells, the transport of glyburide itself has not been characterized. Hence, the objective of the present study was to identify placental transporters which are involved in the transport of glyburide in the context of understanding its efflux from the fetus to the mother.
Section snippets
Materials
5-Carboxyfluorescein diacetate (5-CFDA), verapamil, novobiocin, rhodamine 123 (Rh123), indomethacin, mitoxanthrone and tissue-culturing plates were purchased from Sigma–Aldrich (Toronto, ON). Culture media, trypsin, fetal bovine serum (FBS), penicillin and streptomycin were purchased from Canadian Life Technologies (Hamilton, ON). [3H]-Glyburide (specific activity = 44.6 Ci/mmol) was purchased from Perkin Elmer (Toronto, ON).
Tissue culture
PGP over-expressing cells A2780/Adr (ECACC, UK) and BCRP over-expressing
[3H]-Glyburide transport
Inhibition of BCRP by novobiocin resulted in pronounced increases in the intracellular accumulation of [3H]-glyburide in BCRP over-expressing MCF7-MX cells (p = 0.008, Fig. 1). Significant increases were seen in the uptake of [3H]-glyburide for all time points in novobiocin-treated cells, as compared to controls, resulting in an overall 3-fold increase in the total intracellular accumulation over the 60 min time period (AUC0–60). Likewise, inhibition of MRP activity with indomethacin resulted in
Discussion
Glyburide is a second generation sulfonylurea that has been shown to effectively treat gestational diabetes while exhibiting marginal placental transfer [1]. Indeed, in a recent placental perfusion study we have documented that glyburide is transferred from the fetal to the maternal circulation against its concentration gradient [23]. To elucidate mechanisms involved in this phenomenon, we examined the potential involvement of several highly expressed placental ABC transporters in glyburide
Acknowledgements
G.K. and M.P.M. are supported by grants from CIHR. G.K. hold the Ivey chair in Molecular Toxicology at the University of Western Ontario. C.G. is a recipient of the Ontario Graduate Scholarship.
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