Lipids barrier model, permeability

Experimental Results and Comparisons with the Classical Lipid Barrier Model. Some typical experimental data are presented in Figure 1 for the transport of g-estradiol. In each of the experiments a lag-time of 1.5 to 2.5 hours were followed by linear steady state fluxes. The effective permeability coefficient, Peff> was calculated from such data using Equation 1 under sink conditions (i.e., Cj/K Cr/Kr where, Kj is the partition coefficient between membrane and donor phase and Kr the partition coefficient between membrane and receiver phase.)... 

In order to examine the deviations of the data from the predictions of the classical lipid barrier model, one may calculate the theoretical permeability coefficients for the classical lipid barrier model using the expression ... 

One of the key parameters for correlating molecular structure and chemical properties with bioavailability has been transcorneal flux or, alternatively, the corneal permeability coefficient. The epithelium has been modeled as a lipid barrier (possibly with a limited number of aqueous pores that, for this physical model, serve as the equivalent of the extracellular space in a more physiological description) and the stroma as an aqueous barrier (Fig. 11). The endothelium is very thin and porous compared with the epithelium [189] and often has been ignored in the analysis, although mathematically it can be included as part of the lipid barrier. Diffusion through bilayer membranes of various structures has been modeled for some time [202] and adapted to ophthalmic applications more recently [203,204]. For a series of molecules of similar size, it was shown that the permeability increases with octa-nol/water distribution (or partition) coefficient until a plateau is reached. Modeling of this type of data has led to the earlier statement that drugs need to be both... 

This permeability barrier shows selectivity in that small hydrophobic molecules can partition into and diffuse across the lipid bilayer of the cell membrane, whereas small hydrophilic molecules can only diffuse between cells (i.e., through the intercellular junctions). In addition, the presence of uptake and efflux transporters complicates our ability to predict intestinal permeability based on physicochemical properties alone because transporters may increase or decrease absorptive flux. The complexity of the permeability process makes it difficult to elucidate permeability pathways in complex biological model systems such as animals and tissues. For this reason, cultured cells in general, and Caco-2 cells in particular, have been used extensively to investigate the role of specific permeability pathways in drug absorption. 

The successful application of in vitro models of intestinal drug absorption depends on the ability of the in vitro model to mimic the relevant characteristics of the in vivo biological barrier. Most compounds are absorbed by passive transcellular diffusion. To undergo tran-scellular transport a molecule must cross the lipid bilayer of the apical and basolateral cell membranes. In recent years, there has been a widespread acceptance of a technique, artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA), to estimate intestinal permeability.117118 The principle of the PAMPA is that, diffusion across a lipid layer, mimics transepithelial permeation. Experiments are conducted by applying a drug solution on top of a lipid layer covering a filter that separates top (donor) and bottom (receiver) chambers. The rate of drug appearance in the bottom wells should reflect the diffusion across the lipid layer, and by extrapolation, across the epithelial cell layer. 

Membranes of plant and animal cells are typically composed of 40-50 % lipids and 50-60% proteins. There are wide variations in the types of lipids and proteins as well as in their ratios. Arrangements of lipids and proteins in membranes are best considered in terms of the fluid-mosaic model, proposed by Singer and Nicolson % According to this model, the matrix of the membrane (a lipid bilayer composed of phospholipids and glycolipids) incorporates proteins, either on the surface or in the interior, and acts as permeability barrier (Fig. 2). Furthermore, other cellular functions such as recognition, fusion, endocytosis, intercellular interaction, transport, and osmosis are all membrane mediated processes. 

Ghadially, R., Brown, B.E., Sequeira-Martin, S.M., Feingold, K.R., and Elias, PM., The aged epidermal permeability barrier. Structural, functional, and lipid biochemical abnormalities in humans and a senescent murine model, J. Clin. Invest., 95, 2281-2290, 1995. 

Neither DIL nor DSCG were permeable through intact skin from either type of film bases. These results suggest that the stratum corneum is probably the rate-controlling barrier in the rabbit model (10). This is consistent also with the poor absorption of ionic species in stratum corneum due to poor lipid solubility (11). 

Coincident with the reduction in brain level of hydroxyl radicals, U-74006F administered at 5 minutes post-injury also acts to reduce post-traumatic opening of the blood-brain barrier (i.e. decreased brain uptake of 14C-albumin) [56]. This effect of U-74006F to close the barrier may be related to the attenuation of hydroxyl-radical levels or an antagonism of the effects of free radicals on the barrier endothelium (i.e. decreased membrane-lipid peroxidation). Indeed, free radicals are known to increase barrier permeability [57]. Consistent with this reduction in post-traumatic opening of the blood-brain barrier which would lead to vasogenic brain edema, U-74006F has been shown to attenuate post-traumatic brain edema in a rat model of fluid percussion head injury [58]. 

Passive Transport. Transport by simple diffusion This mode of transport is available for apolar molecules. Permeation is predominantly governed by partitioning of the substrate between the lipid and water. The membrane simply acts as a permeability barrier small molecules pass more easily than large ones. The transport is explained in terms of a simple diffusion model involving three steps passage of the substrate from the exterior into the membrane, diffusion through the membrane, and passage out of the membrane. 

On the basis of the dynamic properties of proteins in membranes, S. Jonathan Singer and Garth Nicolson proposed the concept of a fluid mosaic model for the overall organization of biological membranes in 1972 (Figure 1230). The essence of their model is that membranes are two-dimensional solutions of oriented lipids and globular proteins. The lipid bilayer has a dual role it is both a solvent for integral membrane proteins and a permeability barrier. Membrane proteins are free to diffuse laterally in the lipid matrix unless restricted by special interactions. 

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