Development of UPLC-MS/MS Method to Study the Pharmacokinetic Interaction between Sorafenib and Dapagliflozin in Rats

Sorafenib (SOR), an inhibitor of multiple kinases, is a classic targeted drug for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) which often coexists with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Dapagliflozin (DAPA), a sodium–glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor (SGLT2i), is widely used in patients with T2DM. Notably, co-administration of SOR with DAPA is common in clinical settings. Uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase family 1 member A9 (UGT1A9) is involved in the metabolism of SOR and dapagliflozin (DAPA), and SOR is the inhibitor of UGT1A1 and UGT1A9 (in vitro). Therefore, changes in UGT1A9 activity caused by SOR may lead to pharmacokinetic interactions between the two drugs. The objective of the current study was to develop an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the simultaneous determination of SOR and DAPA in plasma and to evaluate the effect of the co-administration of SOR and DAPA on their individual pharmacokinetic properties and the mechanism involved. The rats were divided into four groups: SOR (100 mg/kg) alone and co-administered with DAPA (1 mg/kg) for seven days, and DAPA (1 mg/kg) alone and co-administered with SOR (100 mg/kg) for seven days. Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) was performed for plasma sample preparation, and the chromatographic separation was conducted on Waters XSelect HSS T3 column with a gradient elution of 0.1% formic acid and 5 mM ammonium acetate (Phase A) and acetonitrile (Phase B). The levels of Ugt1a7 messenger RNA (mRNA) were determined in rat liver and intestine using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The method was successfully applied to the study of pharmacokinetic interactions. DAPA caused a significant decrease in the maximum plasma concentrations (Cmax) and the area under the plasma concentration–time curves (AUC(0–t)) of SOR by 41.6% and 50.5%, respectively, while the apparent volume of distribution (V(z/F)) and apparent clearance (CL(z/F)) significantly increased 2.85- and 1.98-fold, respectively. When co-administering DAPA with SOR, the AUC(0–t) and the elimination half-life (t(1/2Z)) of DAPA significantly increased 1.66- and 1.80-fold, respectively, whereas the CL(z/F) significantly decreased by 40%. Results from qRT-PCR showed that, compared with control, seven days of SOR pretreatment decreased Ugt1a7 expression in both liver and intestine tissue. In contrast, seven days of DAPA pretreatment decreased Ugt1a7 expression only in liver tissue. Therefore, pharmacokinetic interactions exist between long-term use of SOR with DAPA, and UGT1A9 may be the targets mediating the interaction. Active surveillance for the treatment outcomes and adverse reactions are required.