Nian Liu,Shuchao Zhang,Yiliang Liu,Xing Lu,Xiaozhen He
Carbimazole, a first-line antithyroid agent, alleviates hyperthyroidism by inhibiting thyroid hormone synthesis. However, its clinical use is complicated by adverse effects such as cardiotoxicity and hepatotoxicity, underscoring the need to elucidate its mechanisms in model organisms. In this study, zebrafish embryos at 6-h postfertilization (hpf) were continuously exposed to increasing carbimazole concentrations, with systematic assessment of developmental and physiological parameters. Results demonstrated that concentrations above 3.5 μg/mL caused significant mortality and delayed hatching. Dose-dependent developmental abnormalities included shortened body length, reduced swim bladder area, and pericardial edema. Further analyses indicated carbimazole-induced cardiotoxicity characterized by impaired cardiac development, decreased heart rate, and dysregulation of apoptosis-related genes. A diminished fluorescence area suggested compromised cardiac tissue integrity. Concurrently, hepatotoxicity manifested as yolk sac enlargement and altered expression of liver-specific genes, indicating disrupted hepatic function. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) analyses indicated that at 120 hpf, the 5-μg/mL carbimazole-treated group exhibited 158 upregulated genes and 562 downregulated genes compared with the wild-type (WT) group. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses revealed disruptions in several signaling pathways associated with liver metabolism and cardiac development, including metabolism, FoxO signaling, and the p53 signaling pathway. These findings demonstrate that carbimazole induces early embryonic developmental abnormalities, cardiotoxicity, and hepatotoxicity in zebrafish. This research provides new insights into carbimazole toxicity and valuable perspectives for optimizing its clinical dosing regimen.
The primary objective of this study was to mask bitter taste and decrease the disintegration time of carbinoxamine maleate (CAM) orally disintegrating tablets (ODTs). In order to screen the prescription of ODTs, a novel modified in vitro disintegration method (MIVDM) was developed to measure the in vitro disintegration time. In this method, different concentrations of ethanol served as disintegration medium in order to delay the in vitro water absorption and disintegration process of tablets. The MIVDM demonstrated good in vitro and in vivo correlation and proved more precise and discriminative than other reported methods. In this research, ion exchange resins (IERs) were used to mask bitter taste for improving mouthfeel. The drug-resin ratio and reaction temperature were investigated to obtain the optimum carbinoxamine resin complexes (CRCs). The characterization of CRCs revealed an amorphous state. ODTs were prepared by direct compression. Superdisintegrants and diluents of ODTs were screened first. Further optimization was carried out by using Box–Behnken design. The effect of (X1) mannitol/microcrystalline cellulose ratio, (X2) the amount of low-substituted hydroxypropylcellulose and (X3) the hardness was investigated for achieving the lowest (Y) in vitro disintegration time. Technological characterization, wetting time, water absorption ratio, and roughness degree were evaluated. The CRCs and ODTs proved successful taste-masking efficiency. The end product improved patients' compliance. The developed MIVDM was practical for commercial use.