Quantitative prediction of pharmacokinetic properties of drugs in humans: Recent advance in in vitro models to predict the impact of efflux transporters in the small intestine and blood–brain barrier

Abstract

Efflux transport systems are essential to suppress the absorption of xenobiotics from the intestinal lumen and protect the critical tissues at the blood-tissue barriers, such as the blood–brain barrier. The function of drug efflux transport is dominated by various transporters. Accumulated clinical evidences have revealed that genetic variations of the transporters, together with coadministered drugs, affect the expression and/or function of transporters and subsequently the pharmacokinetics of substrate drugs. Thus, in the preclinical stage of drug development, quantitative prediction of the impact of efflux transporters as well as that of uptake transporters and metabolic enzymes on the pharmacokinetics of drugs in humans has been performed using various in vitro experimental tools. Various kinds of human-derived cell systems can be applied to the precise prediction of drug transport in humans. Mathematical modeling consisting of each intrinsic metabolic or transport process enables us to understand the disposition of drugs both at the organ level and at the level of the whole body by integrating a variety of experimental results into model parameters. This review focuses on the role of efflux transporters in the intestinal absorption and brain distribution of drugs, in addition to recent advances in predictive tools and methodologies.

Keywords

• Efflux transporters
• Drug transport
• In vitro model cells
• Drug–drug interactions
• Pharmacokinetic models