PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Wang, Lipeng AU - Leggas, Markos AU - Goswami, Mamta AU - Empey, Philip E. AU - McNamara, Patrick J. TI - <em>N</em>-(4-[2-(1,2,3,4-Tetrahydro-6,7-dimethoxy-2-isoquinolinyl)ethyl]-phenyl)-9,10-dihydro-5-methoxy-9-oxo-4-acridine Carboxamide (GF120918) As a Chemical ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter Family G Member 2 (Abcg2) Knockout Model to Study Nitrofurantoin Transfer into Milk AID - 10.1124/dmd.108.021980 DP - 2008 Dec 01 TA - Drug Metabolism and Disposition PG - 2591--2596 VI - 36 IP - 12 4099 - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/36/12/2591.short 4100 - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/36/12/2591.full SO - Drug Metab Dispos2008 Dec 01; 36 AB - Genetic knockout mice studies suggested ATP-binding cassette transporter family G member 2 (ABCG2)/Abcg2 translocates nitrofurantoin at the mammary-blood barrier, resulting in drug accumulation in milk. The purpose of this study was to establish the role of Abcg2 in nitrofurantoin accumulation in rat milk using N-(4-[2-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6,7-dimethoxy-2-isoquinolinyl)ethyl]-phenyl)-9,10-dihydro-5-methoxy-9-oxo-4-acridine carboxamide (GF120918) as a “chemical knockout” equivalent. The inhibitory effect of GF120918 was verified in Madin-Darby canine kidney II cells stably expressing rat Abcg2 with Hoechst 33342 and nitrofurantoin flux in Transwells. Nitrofurantoin was infused (0.5 mg/h) in the absence and presence of GF120918 (10 mg/kg in dimethyl sulfoxide) to Sprague-Dawley lactating female rats using a balanced crossover design. Administration of GF120918 increased nitrofurantoin concentration in serum (from 443 ± 51 to 650 ± 120 ng/ml) and decreased concentration in milk (from 18.1 ± 0.9 to 1.9 ± 1.2 μg/ml), resulting in corresponding mean values for milk to serum concentration ratio (M/S) of 41.4 ± 19.1 versus 3.04 ± 2.27 in the absence and presence of GF120918 (p &lt; 0.05), respectively. There was a decrease in systemic clearance with GF120918 (2.8 ± 0.5 l/h/kg) compared with vehicle controls (4.1 ± 0.5 l/h/kg; p &lt; 0.05). Western blot analysis revealed good expression of Abcg2 and no P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expression in mammary gland, whereas immunohistochemistry confirmed the apical expression of Abcg2 in lactating mammary gland epithelia. Nitrofurantoin active transport into rat milk can be inhibited by GF120918 resulting in a 10-fold lower M/S. Although GF120918 inhibits both Abcg2 and P-gp, the high expression of Abcg2 and the absence of detectable P-gp expression in lactating mammary gland validate an important role for Abcg2 in nitrofurantoin accumulation in rat milk. GF120918 is particularly useful as a rat chemical knockout model to establish ABCG2's role in drug transfer into milk during breastfeeding. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics