Methyl ester of prostaglandin D2 as a delivery system of prostaglandin D2 into brain.

We examined the permeability of the blood-brain barrier to a methyl ester of prostaglandin D2 and the brain uptake was assessed by radioactivity measurements and radioimmunoassay. When the methyl ester (1 mg/kg) was administered intravenously into mice, it was rapidly taken up by the brain (189 ng/g brain at 30 s) and disappeared from the brain with a half-life of 9 s, whereas it was hardly detectable in the blood. The methyl ester transported into the brain was hydrolyzed to prostaglandin D2 and the time course of prostaglandin D2 levels showed an accumulation phase with a peak at 30 s. The total amount of prostaglandin D2 and its methyl ester was 279 ng/g brain at 30 s after injection, corresponding to 0.5% of the administered dose and being 6-times higher than that after prostaglandin D2 injection. The advantage of the methyl ester over prostaglandin D2 for brain uptake was observed at doses higher than 0.2 mg/kg where the methyl ester which escaped from hydrolysis in the blood was taken up more effectively than prostaglandin D2. In in vitro experiments, the esterase activity on the methyl ester was shown to be 20-times greater in the plasma than in the brain homogenate. These results indicate that the esterification of prostaglandin D2 may serve as a good system for the delivery of prostaglandin D2 into the brain.