Use of canalicular membrane vesicles (CMVs) from rats, dogs, monkeys and humans to assess drug transport across the canalicular membrane

Repeated dose multi-drug testing using a microfluidic chip-based coculture of human liver and kidney proximal tubules equivalents

A microfluidic multi-organ chip emulates the tissue culture microenvironment, enables interconnection of organ equivalents and overcomes interspecies differences, making this technology a promising and powerful tool for preclinical drug screening. In this study, we established a microfluidic chip-based model that enabled non-contact cocultivation of liver spheroids and renal proximal tubule barriers in a connecting media circuit over 16 days. Meanwhile, a 14-day repeated-dose systemic administration of cyclosporine A (CsA) alone or in combination with rifampicin was performed. Toxicity profiles of the two different doses of CsA on different target organs could be discriminated and that concomitant treatment with rifampicin from day6 onwards decreased the CsA concentration and attenuated the toxicity compared with that after treatment with CsA for 14 consecutive days. The latter is manifested with the changes in cytotoxicity, cell viability and apoptosis, gene expression of metabolic enzymes and transporters, and noninvasive toxicity biomarkers. The on chip coculture of the liver and the proximal tubulus equivalents showed its potential as an effective and translational tool for repeated dose multi-drug toxicity screening in the preclinical stage of drug development.

Role of enterohepatic recirculation in drug disposition: cooperation and complications

Enterohepatic recirculation (EHC) concerns many physiological processes and notably affects pharmacokinetic parameters such as plasma half-life and AUC as well as estimates of bioavailability of drugs. Also, EHC plays a detrimental role as the compounds/drugs are allowed to recycle. An in-depth comprehension of this phenomenon and its consequences on the pharmacological effects of affected drugs is important and decisive in the design and development of new candidate drugs. EHC of a compound/drug occurs by biliary excretion and intestinal reabsorption, sometimes with hepatic conjugation and intestinal deconjugation. EHC leads to prolonged elimination half-life of the drugs, altered pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Study of the EHC of any drug is complicated due to unavailability of the apposite model, sophisticated procedures and ethical concerns. Different in vitro and in vivo methods for studies in experimental animals and humans have been devised, each having its own merits and demerits. Involvement of the different transporters in biliary excretion, intra- and inter-species, pathological and biochemical variabilities obscure the study of the phenomenon. Modeling of drugs undergoing EHC has always been intricate and exigent models have been exploited to interpret the pharmacokinetic profiles of drugs witnessing multiple peaks due to EHC. Here, we critically appraise the mechanisms of bile formation, factors affecting biliary drug elimination, methods to estimate biliary excretion of drugs, EHC, multiple peak phenomenon and its modeling.

How drugs get into cells: tested and testable predictions to help discriminate between transporter-mediated uptake and lipoidal bilayer diffusion

One approach to experimental science involves creating hypotheses, then testing them by varying one or more independent variables, and assessing the effects of this variation on the processes of interest. We use this strategy to compare the intellectual status and available evidence for two models or views of mechanisms of transmembrane drug transport into intact biological cells. One (BDII) asserts that lipoidal phospholipid Bilayer Diffusion Is Important, while a second (PBIN) proposes that in normal intact cells Phospholipid Bilayer diffusion Is Negligible (i.e., may be neglected quantitatively), because evolution selected against it, and with transmembrane drug transport being effected by genetically encoded proteinaceous carriers or pores, whose “natural” biological roles, and substrates are based in intermediary metabolism. Despite a recent review elsewhere, we can find no evidence able to support BDII as we can find no experiments in intact cells in which phospholipid bilayer diffusion was either varied independently or measured directly (although there are many papers where it was inferred by seeing a covariation of other dependent variables). By contrast, we find an abundance of evidence showing cases in which changes in the activities of named and genetically identified transporters led to measurable changes in the rate or extent of drug uptake. PBIN also has considerable predictive power, and accounts readily for the large differences in drug uptake between tissues, cells and species, in accounting for the metabolite-likeness of marketed drugs, in pharmacogenomics, and in providing a straightforward explanation for the late-stage appearance of toxicity and of lack of efficacy during drug discovery programmes despite macroscopically adequate pharmacokinetics. Consequently, the view that Phospholipid Bilayer diffusion Is Negligible (PBIN) provides a starting hypothesis for assessing cellular drug uptake that is much better supported by the available evidence, and is both more productive and more predictive.

A high throughput in vitro mrp2 assay to predict in vivo biliary excretion

Prediction of biliary excretion is a challenge for drug discovery scientists due to the lack of in vitro assays. This study explores the possibility of establishing a simple assay to predict in vivo biliary excretion via the mrp2 transport system. In vitro mrp2 activity was determined by measuring the ATP-dependent uptake of 5(6)-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (CDCF) in canalicular plasma membrane vesicles (cLPM) from rat livers. The CDCF uptake was time- and concentration-dependent (K(m) of 2.2 ± 0.3 µM and V(max) of 115 ± 26 pmol/mg/min) and strongly inhibited by the mrp2 inhibitors, benzbromarone, MK-571, and cyclosporine A, with IC(50) values ≤ 1.1 µM. Low inhibition of CDCF uptake by taurocholate (BSEP inhibitor; 57 µM) and digoxin (P-gp inhibitor; 101 µM) demonstrated assay specificity towards mrp2. A highly significant correlation (r(2) = 0.959) between the in vitro IC(50) values from the described mrp2 assay and in vivo biliary excretion in rats was observed using 10 literature compounds. This study demonstrated, for the first time, that a high throughput assay could be established with the capability of predicting biliary excretion in the rat using CDCF as a substrate.

ABCC2/Abcc2: a multispecific transporter with dominant excretory functions

ABCC2/Abcc2 (MRP2/Mrp2) is expressed at major physiological barriers, such as the canalicular membrane of liver cells, kidney proximal tubule epithelial cells, enterocytes of the small and large intestine, and syncytiotrophoblast of the placenta. ABCC2/Abcc2 always localizes in the apical membranes. Although ABCC2/Abcc2 transports a variety of amphiphilic anions that belong to different classes of molecules, such as endogenous compounds (e.g., bilirubin-glucuronides), drugs, toxic chemicals, nutraceuticals, and their conjugates, it displays a preference for phase II conjugates. Phenotypically, the most obvious consequence of mutations in ABCC2 that lead to Dubin-Johnson syndrome is conjugate hyperbilirubinemia. ABCC2/Abcc2 harbors multiple binding sites and displays complex transport kinetics.

Interaction of eight HIV protease inhibitors with the canalicular efflux transporter ABCC2 (MRP2) in sandwich-cultured rat and human hepatocytes

Hepatotoxicity has been reported as a side-effect in some patients on HIV protease inhibitors (PI). Since transporter interaction has been implicated as a mechanism underlying drug-mediated hepatotoxicity and drug-drug interactions, the interaction of PI with the hepatic canalicular efflux transporter ABCC2 (MRP2; multidrug resistance associated protein-2) was studied. Interaction with ABCC2/Abcc2 was evaluated in human and rat sandwich-cultured hepatocytes using 5(6)-carboxy-2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (CDF) as substrate. In rat hepatocytes, interaction with estradiol-17-beta-D-glucuronide (E17G) efflux was also studied. In human hepatocytes, saquinavir, ritonavir and atazanavir were the most efficient inhibitors of ABCC2-mediated biliary excretion of CDF, whereas in rat hepatocytes indinavir, lopinavir and nelfinavir were the most efficient. No species-similarity was found for ABCC2/Abcc2 inhibition. In rat hepatocytes, the effects on Abcc2 were substrate-dependent as inhibition of biliary excretion of E17G was most pronounced for saquinavir (completely blocked), amprenavir (82% inhibition) and indinavir (68% inhibition). In conclusion, several HIV PI showed substantial ABCC2 inhibition, which, combined with the effects of PI on other hepatobiliary disposition mechanisms, will determine the clinical relevance of these in vitro interaction data.

Prediction of pharmacokinetic profile of valsartan in humans based on in vitro uptake-transport data

The aim of this study was to evaluate a physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for predicting PK profiles in humans based on a model refined in rats and humans in vitro uptake-transport data using valsartan as a probe substrate. Valsartan is eliminated unchanged, mostly through biliary excretion, both in humans and rats. It was, therefore, chosen as model compound to predict in vivo elimination based on in vitro hepatic uptake-transport data using a fully mechanistic PBPK model. Plated rat and human hepatocytes, and cell lines overexpressing human OATP1B1 and OATP1B3 were used for in vitro uptake experiments. A mechanistic two-compartment model was used to derive the active and passive transport parameters, namely uptake Michaelis-Menten parameters (V(max) and K(m,u)) together with passive diffusion (P(dif)). These transport parameters were then used as input in a whole body physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model. The uptake rate of valsartan was higher for rat hepatocytes (K(m,u)=28.4+/-3.7 microM, V(max)=1320+/-180 pmol/mg/min, and P(dif) =1.21+/-0.42 microl/mg/min) compared to human hepatocytes (K(m,u)=44.4+/-14.6 microM, V(max)=304+/-85 pmol/mg/min, and P(dif)=0.724+/-0.271 microl/mg/min). OATP1B1 and -1B3 parameters were correlated to human hepatocyte data, using experimentally established relative activity factors (RAF). Resulting PBPK simulations were compared for plasma- (humans and rats) and bile- (rats) concentration-time profiles following iv bolus administration of valsartan. Plasma clearances (CL(P)) for rats and humans were predicted within twofold relative to predictions based on respective in vitro data. The simulations were extended to simulate the impact of either OATP1B1 or -1B3 inhibition on plasma profile. The limited data set indicates that the mechanistic model allowed for accurate evaluation of in vitro transport data; and the resulting hepatic uptake transport kinetic parameters enabled the prediction of in vivo PK profiles and plasma clearances, using PBPK modelling. Moreover, the interspecies difference in elimination rate observed in vivo was correctly reflected in the transport parameters determined in vitro.

Involvement of Mrp2/MRP2 in the species different excretion route of benzylpenicillin between rat and human

1. The purpose of this study was to investigate the involvement of rat Mrp2 and human MRP2 in benzylpenicillin transport using canalicular liver plasma membrane (cLPM) vesicles isolated from Sprague-Dawley or Easai hyperbilirubinemic (EHBR) rats, and MDCKII cells overexpressing MRP2. 2. The adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-dependent uptake of benzylpenicillin and oestradiol-17beta-D-glucuronide (E(2)17betaG), a representative substrate for Mrp2, into EHBR-cLPM vesicles was decreased relative to that seen with control-cLPM vesicles, which may reflect the absence of Mrp2 in the EHBR. The ATP-dependent uptake of taurocholate, which is not a substrate for Mrp2, was similar in both control and EHBR-cLPM vesicles. The concentration dependence of ATP-dependent benzylpenicillin uptake was reflected in a K(m) of 44.0 microM and a V(max) of 508.4 pmol mg(-1) min(-1). Additional inhibition studies using E(2)17betaG and methotrexate as representative substrates for Mrp2/MRP2 demonstrated the involvement of rat Mrp2, but not human MRP2, in benzylpenicillin efflux. Benzylpenicillin appears not to be a substrate for or inhibitor of other human efflux transporters such as MDR1, MRP1, MRP3, or BCRP. 3. In conclusion, rat Mrp2, but not human MRP2, plays an important role in ATP-dependent benzylpenicillin uptake in the bile canalicular membrane, which may explain why biliary excretion of benzylpenicillin is high in the rat but negligible in humans.

Identification of interspecies difference in efflux transporters of hepatocytes from dog, rat, monkey and human

The large interspecies differences of hepatobiliary transport present a challenge for the allometric prediction of human biliary excretion for drug candidates primarily cleared via hepatobiliary secretion. In the present study, we determined the metabolic stabilities of common fluorescent substrates of hepatobiliary efflux transporters and developed a rapid efflux assay to determine the functional activities of MRP/Mrp, BCRP/Bcrp and P-gp in hepatocytes of four species. The specificities of transporter-mediated dye efflux were confirmed by selective transporter inhibitors. Among tested species, transporter-specific dye efflux kinetics was consistent between freshly isolated and cryopreserved hepatocytes. Hepatocyte elimination half-lives of MRP/Mrp substrates GS-MF and calcein were observed in the rank order of human>monkey>dog>rat. The fourfold higher MRP/Mrp substrate efflux rate of rat hepatocytes compared to human is likely due to the species-specific functional differences of MRP2/Mrp2 expressed on the canalicular membrane. We also observed efficient BCRP-mediated pheophorbide A (PhA) efflux by human and dog hepatocytes, while PhA extrusion in monkey and rat hepatocytes appeared limited. P-gp function measured by DiOC2(3) efflux was minimal in hepatocytes of all origins and no significant species differences were detected. Our results demonstrated marked differences in hepatocyte MRP/Mrp and BCRP/Bcrp activities across species, indicating that they may contribute to the species differences of in vivo hepatobiliary excretion. These results also suggest the potential utility of primary hepatocytes, either fresh or cryopreserved, as an in vitro model to predict interspecies differences in the biliary transport of MRP/Mrp and BCRP/Bcrp substrates.

The Evolving Role of Drug Metabolism in Drug Discovery and Development

Drug metabolism in pharmaceutical research has traditionally focused on the well-defined aspects of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, commonly-referred to ADME properties of a compound, particularly in the areas of metabolite identification, identification of drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) and associated metabolic pathways, and reaction mechanisms. This traditional emphasis was in part due to the limited scope of understanding and the unavailability of in vitro and in vivo tools with which to evaluate more complex properties and processes. However, advances over the past decade in separate but related fields such as pharmacogenetics, pharmacogenomics and drug transporters, have dramatically shifted the drug metabolism paradigm. For example, knowledge of the genetics and genomics of DMEs allows us to better understand and predict enzyme regulation and its effects on exogenous (pharmacokinetics) and endogenous pathways as well as biochemical processes (pharmacology). Advances in the transporter area have provided unprecedented insights into the role of transporter proteins in absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of drugs and their consequences with respect to clinical drug-drug and drug-endogenous substance interactions, toxicity and interindividual variability in pharmacokinetics. It is therefore essential that individuals involved in modern pharmaceutical research embrace a fully integrated approach and understanding of drug metabolism as is currently practiced. The intent of this review is to reexamine drug metabolism with respect to the traditional as well as current practices, with particular emphasis on the critical aspects of integrating chemistry and biology in the interpretation and application of metabolism data in pharmaceutical research.

Expression profiles of 50 xenobiotic transporter genes in humans and pre-clinical species: a resource for investigations into drug disposition

Carrier-mediated transporters play a critical role in xenobiotic disposition and transporter research is complicated by species differences and their selective tissue expression. The purpose of this study was to generate a comprehensive data set of xenobiotic transporter gene expression profiles in humans and the pre-clinical species mouse, rat, beagle dog and cynomolgus monkey. mRNA expression profiles of 50 genes from the ABC, SLC and SLCO transporter superfamilies were examined in 40 human tissues by microarray analyses. Transporter genes that were identified as enriched in the liver or kidney, or that were selected for their known roles in xenobiotic disposition, were then compared in 22 tissues across the five species. Finally, as clinical variability in drug response and adverse reactions may be the result of variability in transporter gene expression, variability in the expression of selected transporter genes in 75 human liver donors were examined and compared with the highly variable drug metabolizing enzyme CYP3A4.

Strategies to assess the drug interaction potential in translational medicine

Translational medicine is the drug development phase in which preclinical and clinical applied research is conducted to aid dose and disease selection with great financial impact. Thus, during this phase, early discontinuation of a drug that will later fail due to drug interactions is a must for a proper resource allocation. It is not only important to identify a potential interaction, but also to be able to differentiate between detectable interactions and clinically relevant interactions. Due to the scientific advancement, the prediction of drug interactions during translational medicine has shifted from empirical/observational to rational based. These investigations are thus in line with the FDA's Critical Path Initiative and are facilitated by the availability of mature technologies and by current European and US guidelines for both in vitro and in vivo studies. Because drug interactions must be evaluated in a multidisciplinary fashion, even if these studies are contracted externally, pharmaceutical companies should be directly involved in the conduction of such studies to fully exploit their potential and to allow a better and faster interpretation of the results.

Methods to evaluate biliary excretion of drugs in humans: an updated review

Determining the biliary clearance of drugs in humans is very challenging because bile is not readily accessible due to the anatomy of the hepatobiliary tract. The collection of bile usually is limited to postsurgical patients with underlying hepatobiliary disease. In healthy subjects, feces typically are used as a surrogate to quantify the amount of drug excreted via nonurinary pathways. Nevertheless, it is very important to characterize hepatobiliary elimination because this is a potential site of drug interactions that might result in significant alterations in systemic or hepatic exposure. In addition to the determination of in vivo biliary clearance values of drugs, the availability of in vitro models that can predict the extent of biliary excretion of drugs in humans may be a powerful tool in the preclinical stages of drug development. In this review, recent advances in the most commonly used in vivo methods to estimate biliary excretion of drugs in humans are outlined. Additionally, in vitro models that can be employed to investigate the molecular processes involved in biliary excretion are discussed to present an updated picture of the new tools and techniques that are available to study the complex processes involved in hepatic drug transport.

COMPARISON OF DRUG EFFLUX TRANSPORT KINETICS IN VARIOUS BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER MODELS

The present study quantitatively compared the drug efflux transport kinetics of 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein acetoxymethyl ester (BCECF-AM) and its fluorescent metabolite 2',7'-bis(2-carboxyethyl)-5(6)-carboxyfluorescein (BCECF) in various blood-brain barrier (BBB) models. BCECF-AM was exposed to freshly isolated bovine brain microvessels (BBM), primary cultured bovine brain microvessel endothelial cells (BBMEC), and MDCK-MDR1 cells for 30 min in the presence or absence of the P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitor 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). P-gp transport kinetics were determined indirectly by calculating the difference in BCECF accumulation when P-gp was functional and completely inhibited by GF120918 (3.2 microM). Multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) transport kinetics were determined by measuring the amount of BCECF transported out of the cell over time. For P-gp-related transport, Km values for BCECF-AM were approximately the same in all three models (around 2 microM), whereas the Vmax was 4-fold greater in the BBM than in the BBMEC or MDCKII-MDR1 cells. For MRP-related transport, Km values for BCECF varied widely among the three BBB models with a rank order of MDCKII-MDR1 < BBMEC < BBM. Like P-gp, the Vmax of BCECF for MRP-related transport was overwhelmingly higher in the BBM compared with the cultured cells. Because differences in the expression of P-gp, MRP5, and MRP6 were observed in the various BBB models using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction techniques, the disparity in transport kinetics between the BBB models may be linked to variations in the amount or type of drug efflux transporters expressed in each model. The present study introduces a method of quantitatively evaluating drug efflux transport kinetics in the BBB.