Trehalose is widely used as a sweetener, humectant, and stabilizer, but is ubiquitously degraded by the enzyme trehalase expressed in a broad variety of organisms. The stability of the new trehalose analogues lentztrehaloses A, B, and C in microbial and mammalian cell cultures and their pharmacokinetics in mice were analyzed to evaluate their potential as successors of trehalose. Among the 12 species of microbes and 2 cancer cell lines tested, 7 digested trehalose, whereas no definitive digestion of the lentztrehaloses was observed in any of them. When orally administered to mice (0.5 g/kg), trehalose was not clearly detected in blood and urine and only slightly detected in feces. However, lentztrehaloses were detected in blood at >1 μg/mL over several hours and were eventually excreted in feces and urine. These results indicate that lentztrehaloses may potentially replace trehalose as nonperishable materials and drug candidates with better bioavailabilities.
Keywords: bioavailability; lentztrehalose; pharmacokinetics; stability; trehalase; trehalose.