Abstract 4557: LC/MS/MS assay and mouse pharmacokinetics of the phenylurea thiocarbamate NSC 161128.
Authors: Walden Chad A. , Reid Joel M. , McGovern Renee M. , Covey Joseh M. , Ames Matthew M. 
Published: August 2014

NSC 161128 is a phenylurea thiocarbamate that has shown differential activity in the NCI60 anticancer screen and in xenograft models. The best in vivo activity was observed against the DU-145 prostate cell line. Previous studies conducted by DTP/NCI demonstrated that NSC 161128 is rapidly metabolized after administration to mice or rats, with the major detected metabolite being N-methyl-N’-phenylurea (M10). The other putative metabolite(s) arising from cleavage of the N-S bond, dimethyldithiocarbamate (M85) and/or its disulfide [bis(dimethyldithiocarbamoyl)disulfide, M17] were not detected in animal plasma using available methodologies. NSC 161128 was also shown to be rapidly degraded in aqueous solution at low and high pH, forming M10 and M17. As part of the preclinical evaluation of NSC 161128, we developed a sensitive, specific LC/MS/MS method to quantitate NSC 161128, M10 and M17 in biological samples, explored the stability of NSC 161128 in cell culture medium, and characterized the pharmacokinetics and in vivo metabolism of NSC 161128 following i.p. administration to athymic nude mice. We developed and validated suitable positive ionization lc/ms/ms methodology for measuring NSC 161128, M10 and M17. The assay utilized liquid extraction with isopropanol:1-chlorobutane, 1:9 (v/v) and MS/MS detection with the 270&gt;177, 151&gt;94 and 241&gt;120 transitions for NSC 161128, M10 and M17, respectively. Baseline separation was achieved on an Atlantis T3 column under a mobile phase consisting of 40:60 methanol:water containing 0.1% formic acid. Standard curves were linear over the concentration range 1.0-1000 ng/mL with a lower limit of detection of 1.0 ng/mL. The parent compound was stable under acidic and neutral conditions, but some degradation (&lt;10%) was detected under basic conditions. NSC 161128 disappearance (∼20%) was also detected during 24-h incubation in RPMI medium +/- FBS. M10 was a minor product in those same incubations, suggesting that reactive metabolites are not formed in cell culture medium. Rapid degradation of NSC161128 and concomitant formation of M10 was observed in plasma at room temperature. While degradation was reduced by incubation on ice, substantial loss of drug (&gt;40%) was noted within 30 minutes, and samples for pharmacokinetic studies were kept cold and processed quickly to prevent degradation. NSC 161128 pharmacokinetics were characterized in male CD1 mice after i.p. administration of a 200 mg/kg dose. The peak plasma concentration of 255 ng/ml was observed 5 minutes after drug administration and the plasma half-life was 138 min. The peak concentration of 14.7 μg/ml M10 was detected 15 min after the NSC 161128 dose and the half-life was 560 min. Analysis of the pharmacokinetics of the thiol metabolites will be presented. Supported by NCI contract N01-CM-2011-00014.

Citation Format: Chad A. Walden, Joel M. Reid, Renee M. McGovern, Joseh M. Covey, Matthew M. Ames. LC/MS/MS assay and mouse pharmacokinetics of the phenylurea thiocarbamate NSC 161128. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 4557. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-4557