In vitro–in vivo extrapolation of hepatic clearance: Biological tools,scaling factors,model assumptions and correct concentrations

Although the measurement of metabolite formation or substrate depletion in in vitro systems, from recombinant enzymes to tissue slices, is a relatively routine task, there are a number of more or less unresolved issues in the extrapolation of the enzymatic intrinsic clearance into hepatic metabolic clearance. Nominal concentrations of the drug added to the incubation system are not necessarily the concentration the transporter or the metabolizing enzyme sees. In addition, peculiarities of incubation set-ups should be assessed. Unbound drug fractions (concentrations) in the in vitro system itself should be measured or estimated for the appropriate assessment of enzymatic intrinsic clearance. In addition, blood and/or plasma concentrations to be encountered in the in vivo situation should be measured or estimated for the extrapolation. Extrapolation always means making a number of assumptions and the most important of these, such as scaling factors from recombinant enzymes, microsomes or hepatocytes to the mass unit of the liver, liver weight, blood flow, and distribution volume amongst others, and so on, should be explicitly stated and included in the extrapolation process. Despite all the above-mentioned reservations the in vitro–in vivo extrapolation of metabolic clearance seems to be a useful and mostly fairly precise tool for predicting the important pharmacokinetic processes of a drug.     

A testing strategy to predict risk for drug-induced liver injury in humans using high-content screen assays and the ‘rule-of-two’ model

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a major cause of drug failures in both the preclinical and clinical phase. Consequently, improving prediction of DILI at an early stage of drug discovery will reduce the potential failures in the subsequent drug development program. In this regard, high-content screening (HCS) assays are considered as a promising strategy for the study of DILI; however, the predictive performance of HCS assays is frequently insufficient. In the present study, a new testing strategy was developed to improve DILI prediction by employing in vitro assays that was combined with the RO2 model (i.e., ‘rule-of-two’ defined by daily dose ≥100 mg/day & logP ≥3). The RO2 model was derived from the observation that high daily doses and lipophilicity of an oral medication were associated with significant DILI risk in humans. In the developed testing strategy, the RO2 model was used for the rational selection of candidates for HCS assays, and only the negatives predicted by the RO2 model were further investigated by HCS. Subsequently, the effects of drug treatment on cell loss, nuclear size, DNA damage/fragmentation, apoptosis, lysosomal mass, mitochondrial membrane potential, and steatosis were studied in cultures of primary rat hepatocytes. Using a set of 70 drugs with clear evidence of clinically relevant DILI, the testing strategy improved the accuracies by 10 % and reduced the number of drugs requiring experimental assessment by approximately 20 %, as compared to the HCS assay alone. Moreover, the testing strategy was further validated by including published data (Cosgrove et al. in Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 237:317–330, 2009) on drug-cytokine-induced hepatotoxicity, which improved the accuracies by 7 %. Taken collectively, the proposed testing strategy can significantly improve the prediction of in vitro assays for detecting DILI liability in an early drug discovery phase.     

Stem cell-derived hepatocytes as a predictive model for drug-induced liver injury: are we there yet?

Amongst the different types of adverse drug reactions, drug-induced liver injury is the most prominent cause of patient morbidity and mortality. However, the current available hepatic model systems developed for evaluating safety have limited utility and relevance as they do not fully recapitulate a fully functional hepatocyte, and do not sufficiently represent the genetic polymorphisms present in the population. The rapidly advancing research in stem cells raises the possibility of using human pluripotent stem cells in bridging this gap. The generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells via reprogramming of mature human somatic cells may also allow for disease modelling in vitro for the purposes of assessing drug safety and toxicology. This would also allow for better understanding of disease processes and thus facilitate in the potential identification of novel therapeutic targets. This review will focus on the current state of effort to derive hepatocytes from human pluripotent stem cells for potential use in hepatotoxicity evaluation and aims to provide an insight as to where the future of the field may lie.     

In vitro–in vivo extrapolation of hepatic clearance involving active uptake: Theoretical and experimental aspects

The importance of hepatic uptake transporters in drug clearance is well recognized. The subject is reviewed with the intention of providing an overview of the concepts in order to link the increasing knowledge of transporter-mediated uptake into established models of hepatic clearance. In order to understand and quantify their impact, models of hepatic elimination that incorporate permeability barriers are required. Models that include both active and passive uptake into hepatocytes are discussed and simulations of the influence of active uptake and passive diffusion on hepatic clearance are presented. The advantages and weaknesses of a number of in vitro assays of hepatic uptake are described, and their ability to predict hepatic clearance is reviewed.     

In vitro and in vivo evaluation of pectin beads for the colon delivery of β-lactamases

The aim of the present study was to provide a “proof of concept” of colon delivery of β-lactamases by pectin beads aiming to degrade residual β-lactam antibiotics, in order to prevent the emergence of resistant bacterial strains.

Pectin beads were prepared according to ionotropic gelation method using CaCl₂ as a gelling agent. Particles were then washed and soaked in polyethylenimine (PEI). Coating beads with PEI considerably improved their stability in simulated intestinal medium. In vitro studies showed that β-lactamases were released from pectin beads in colonic medium due to the action of pectinolytic enzymes. When ampicillin was added to this medium, the release of β-lactamases induced, as expected, the antibiotic inactivation. Finally, after oral administration of loaded-beads to CD1 mice, β-lactamases were retrieved in high concentrations in faeces. Observation by SEM of beads extracted from mice intestinal tracts concluded the core degradation of beads without any modification of the PEI coating layer.

This study demonstrates that a multiparticulate system with suitable characteristics for site-specific colonic delivery can be prepared. This system could be used to target β-lactamases to the colon in order to hydrolyse antibiotic residues during treatment and prevent their impact on colonic microflora.     

A time scaling approach to develop an in vitro–in vivo correlation (IVIVC) model using a convolution-based technique

In vitro–in vivo correlation (IVIVC) models prove very useful during drug formulation development, the setting of dissolution specifications and bio-waiver applications following post approval changes. A convolution-based population approach for developing an IVIVC has recently been proposed as an alternative to traditional deconvolution based methods, which pose some statistical concerns. Our aim in this study was to use a time-scaling approach using a convolution-based technique to successfully develop an IVIVC model for a drug with quite different in vitro and in vivo time scales. The in vitro and the in vivo data were longitudinal in nature with considerable between subject variation in the in vivo data. The model was successfully developed and fitted to the data using the NONMEM package. Model utility was assessed by comparing model-predicted plasma concentration-time profiles with the observed in vivo profiles. This comparison met validation criteria for both internal and external predictability as set out by the regulatory authorities. This study demonstrates that a time-scaling approach may prove useful when attempting to develop an IVIVC for data with the aforementioned properties. It also demonstrates that the convolution-based population approach is quite versatile and that it is capable of producing an IVIVC model with a big difference between the in vitro and in vivo time scales.     

Predicting human exposure of active drug after oral prodrug administration,using a joined in vitro/in silico–in vivo extrapolation and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic modeling approach

Introduction: Predicting the pharmacokinetics (PK) of prodrugs and their corresponding active drugs is challenging, as there are many variables to consider. Prodrug conversion characteristics in different tissues are generally measured, but integrating these variables to a PK profile is not a common practice. In this paper, a joined in vitro/in silico–in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) and physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling approach is presented to predict active drug exposure in human after oral prodrug administration. Methods: Physico-chemical and in vitro assays as well as in silico predictions were proposed to characterize key pharmacokinetic properties (e.g. clearance, volume of distribution, conversion rates) of three marketed prodrugs. These data were used to parameterize a PBPK model for simulating human PK profiles of the active drugs after prodrug administration, which were compared to literature data by evaluating the accuracy and uncertainty of the predictions. Results: For mycophenate mofetil and midodrine the PK of their active moieties could be adequately predicted. The assumptions of the PBPK–IVIVE approach were valid, i.e. being hepatically cleared, converted in the gut lumen, blood and liver and not metabolized in the gut wall. However, the observed profiles after oral bambuterol administration clearly fell outside the prediction interval as the PBPK model failed to predict the observed bioavailability. Discussion: Adding quantitative information about prodrug conversion in the gut, liver and blood to a PBPK model for the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) properties of prodrugs and their active moieties resulted, retrospectively, in reasonable predictions of the human PK when the ADME properties are well understood. Also in a prospective compound selection process, this integrative approach can improve decision making on prodrug candidates by putting relative differences in prodrug conversion of a large number of candidates into the perspective of their human PK profile, before conducting any in vivo experiments.     

Changes of electrocardiogram and hemodynamics in response to dipyridamole: In vivo comparative analyses using anesthetized beagle dogs and microminipigs

Microminipigs are expected as a novel animal model for cardiovascular pharmacological experiments. Since inherent vulnerability of coronary circulation of microminipigs has not been characterized, we performed dipyridamole-stress test to both microminipigs and beagle dogs, and compared the results. Dipyridamole in doses of 0.056 and 0.56 mg/kg were intravenously infused over 10 min (n = 4 for each animal). Dipyridamole decreased the systolic/diastolic blood pressures and double product in dogs as well as in microminipigs; but it did not significantly alter the heart rate or the global balance between the myocardial oxygen demand and supply in either animal. While organic coronary arterial stenosis was not detected in either animal, dogs have well-developed epicardial intracoronary networks unlike microminipigs. Like in humans, dipyridamole did not affect the ST segment of microminipigs, whereas it substantially depressed that in dogs. The results indicate the onset of subendocardial ischemia by dipyridamole in dogs may be partly associated with their well-developed native coronary collateral channels. Microminipigs would be more useful to evaluate the drugs which may affect the coronary circulation in the pre-clinical study than dogs.     

Is toxicogenomics a more reliable and sensitive biomarker than conventional indicators from rats to predict drug-induced liver injury in humans?

Around 40% of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) cases are not detected in preclinical studies using the conventional indicators. It has been hypothesized that genomic biomarkers will be more sensitive than conventional markers in detecting human hepatotoxicity signals in preclinical studies. For example, it has been hypothesized and demonstrated in some cases that (1) genomic biomarkers from the rat liver can discriminate drug candidates that have a greater or lesser potential to cause DILI in susceptible patients despite no conventional indicators of liver toxicity being observed in preclinical studies, and (2) more sensitive biomarkers for early detection of DILI can be derived from a "subtoxic dose" at which the injury in the liver occurs at the molecular but not the phenotypic level. With a public TGx data set derived from short-term in vivo studies using rats, we divided drugs exhibiting human hepatotoxicity into three groups according to whether elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) or total bilirubin (TBL) were observed in the treated rats: (A) The elevation was observed in the treated rats, (B) no elevation was observed for all of the treated rats, and (C) no elevation could be observed at a lower dose and shorter duration but occur when a higher or longer treatment was applied. A control group (D) was comprised of drugs known not to cause human hepatotoxicity and for which no rats exhibited elevated ALT or TBL. We developed classifiers for groups A, B, and C against group D and found that the gene signature from scenario A could achieve 83% accuracy for human hepatotoxicity potential of drugs in a leave-one-compound-out cross-validation process, much higher than scenarios B (average 45%) and C (61%). Furthermore, the signature derived from scenario A exhibited relevance to hepatotoxicity in a pathway-based analysis and performed well on two independent public TGx data sets using different chemical treatments and profiled with different microarray platforms. Our study implied that the human hepatotoxicity potential of a drug can be reasonably assessed using TGx analysis of short-term in vivo studies only if it produces significant elevation of ALT or TBL in the treated rats. The study further revealed that the value of "sensitive" biomarkers derived from scenario C was not promising as expected for DILI assessment using the reported TGx design. The study will facilitate further research to understand the role of genomic biomarkers from rats for assessing human hepatotoxicity.     

Toward a new paradigm for the efficient in vitro–in vivo extrapolation of metabolic clearance in humans from hepatocyte data

The objective of this study was to follow up a previous study on a comparative analysis of diverse in vitro–in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE) methods used for predicting hepatic metabolic clearance (CL) of drugs from intrinsic clearance (CL_int) data determined in microsomal incubations, but using hepatocyte data instead. Six IVIVE methods were compared: the “conventional and conventional bias‐corrected methods,” the “regression equation method,” the “direct scaling method,” the “Berezhkovskiy's method,” and the “novel IVIVE method of Poulin et al.” offering a new paradigm. A large and diverse dataset of 49 drugs were collected from the literature for hepatocyte data in human. Based on all statistical parameters, this study confirms that the novel IVIVE method of Poulin et al. shows the greatest prediction performance among the IVIVE methods tested by using hepatocyte data. The superior prediction performance of this novel IVIVE method is again most pronounced for (a) drugs highly bound in blood, (b) drugs bound to albumin, and (c) low CL drugs. Because the novel IVIVE method has been developed particularly to improve the prediction accuracy for drugs with such properties, this study confirms its utility. Furthermore, the results of the current comparative analysis performed using hepatocyte data confirm the findings of a previous analysis made with microsomal data. Overall, the proposed novel IVIVE method offers a new paradigm for the prediction of hepatic metabolic CL particularly for drugs, which have the aforementioned properties, and, hence, this would contribute to a more accurate CL prediction for small molecules in drug discovery and development, interspecies scaling, and can potentially be used for the optimization of driving factors of CL in an attempt to facilitate the simulation of drug disposition by using the physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) model. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 102:3239–3251, 2013     

In vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo methodological approaches for studying therapeutic targets of osteoporosis and degenerative joint diseases: how biomarkers can assist?

Although our approach to the clinical management of osteoporosis (OP) and degenerative joint diseases (DJD)-major causes of disability and morbidity in the elderly-has greatly advanced in the past decades, curative treatments that could bring ultimate solutions have yet to be found or developed. Effective and timely development of candidate drugs is a critical function of the availability of sensitive and accurate methodological arsenal enabling the recognition and quantification of pharmacodynamic effects. The established concept that both OP and DJD arise from an imbalance in processes of tissue formation and degradation draws attention to need of establishing in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo experimental settings, which allow obtaining insights into the mechanisms driving increased bone and cartilage degradation at cellular, organ, and organism levels. When addressing changes in bone or cartilage turnover at the organ or organism level, monitoring tools adequately reflecting the outcome of tissue homeostasis become particularly critical. In this context, bioassays targeting the quantification of various degradation and formation products of bone and cartilage matrix elements represent a useful approach. In this review, a comprehensive overview of widely used and recently established in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo set-ups is provided, which in many cases effectively take advantage of the potentials of biomarkers. In addition to describing and discussing the advantages and limitations of each assay and their methods of evaluation, we added experimental and clinical data illustrating the utility of biomarkers for these methodological approaches.     

In vitro and in vivo characterization of PF-04418948, a novel, potent and selective prostaglandin EP₂ receptor antagonist

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Studies of the role of the prostaglandin EP₂ receptor) have been limited by the availability of potent and selective antagonist tools. Here we describe the in vitro/in vivo pharmacological characterization of a novel EP₂ receptor antagonist, PF-04418948 (1-(4-fluorobenzoyl)-3-{[(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)oxy]methyl} azetidine-3-carboxylic acid).

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Functional antagonist potency was assessed in cell-based systems expressing human EP₂ receptors and native tissue preparations from human, dog and mouse. The selectivity of PF-04418948 was assessed against related receptors and a panel of GPCRs, ion channels and enzymes. The ability of PF-04418948 to pharmacologically block EP₂ receptor function in vivo was tested in rats.

KEY RESULTS

PF-04418948 inhibited prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂)-induced increase in cAMP in cells expressing EP₂ receptors with a functional K_B value of 1.8 nM. In human myometrium, PF-04418948 produced a parallel, rightward shift of the butaprost-induced inhibition of the contractions induced by electrical field stimulation with an apparent K_B of 5.4 nM. In dog bronchiole and mouse trachea, PF-04418948 produced parallel rightward shifts of the PGE₂-induced relaxation curve with a K_B of 2.5 nM and an apparent K_B of 1.3 nM respectively. Reversal of the PGE₂-induced relaxation in the mouse trachea by PF-04418948 produced an IC₅₀ value of 2.7 nM. Given orally, PF-04418948 attenuated the butaprost-induced cutaneous blood flow response in rats. PF-04418948 was selective for EP₂ receptors over homologous and unrelated receptors, enzymes and channels.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

PF-04418948 is an orally active, potent and selective surmountable EP₂ receptor antagonist that should aid further elaboration of EP₂ receptor function.

LINKED ARTICLE

This article is commented on by Birrell and Nials, pp. 1845–1846 of this issue. To view this commentary visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2011.01494.x     

Zn(II)–curcumin protects against hemorheological alterations,oxidative stress and liver injury in a rat model of acute alcoholism

Curcumin can chelate metal ions, forming metallocomplexes. We compared the effects of Zn(II)–curcumin with curcumin against hemorheological alterations, oxidative stress and liver injury in a rat model of acute alcoholism. Oral administration of Zn(II)–curcumin dose-dependently prevented the ethanol-induced elevation of serum malondialdehyde (MDA) content and reductions in glutathione level and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Zn(II)–curcumin also inhibited ethanol-induced liver injury. Additionally, Zn(II)–curcumin dose-dependently inhibited hemorheological abnormalities, including the ethanol-induced elevation of whole blood viscosity, plasma viscosity, blood viscosity at corrected hematocrit (45%), erythrocyte aggregation index, erythrocyte rigidity index and hematocrit. Compared to curcumin at the same dose, Zn(II)–curcumin more effectively elevated SOD activity, ameliorated liver injury and improved hemorheological variables. These results suggest that Zn(II)–curcumin protected the rats from ethanol-induced liver injury and hemorheological abnormalities via the synergistic effect of curcumin and zinc.     

Regulation of vascular nitric oxide in vitro and in vivo; a new role for endogenous hydrogen sulphide?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of these experiments was to evaluate the significance of the chemical reaction between hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and nitric oxide (NO) for the control of vascular tone. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: The effect of sodium hydrosulphide (NaHS; H2S donor) and a range of NO donors, such as sodium nitroprusside (SNP), either alone or together, was determined using phenylephrine (PE)-precontracted rat aortic rings and on the blood pressure of anaesthetised rats. KEY RESULTS:Mixing NaHS with NO donors inhibited the vasorelaxant effect of NO both in vitro and in vivo. Low concentrations of NaHS or H2S gas in solution reversed the relaxant effect of acetylcholine (ACh, 400 nM) and histamine (100 microM) but not isoprenaline (400 nM). The effect of NaHS on the ACh response was antagonized by CuSO(4) (200 nM) but was unaffected by glibenclamide (10 microM). In contrast, high concentrations of NaHS (200-1600 microM) relaxed aortic rings directly, an effect reduced by glibenclamide but unaffected by CuSO4. Intravenous infusion of a low concentration of NaHS (10 micromol kg(-1) min(-1)) into the anaesthetized rat significantly increased mean arterial blood pressure. L-NAME (25 mg kg(-1), i.v.) pretreatment reduced this effect. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: These results suggest that H2S and NO react together to form a molecule (possibly a nitrosothiol) which exhibits little or no vasorelaxant activity either in vitro or in vivo. We propose that a crucial, and hitherto unappreciated, role of H2S in the vascular system is the regulation of the availability of NO.     

Employment of cytology for in vitro skin irritation test using a reconstructed human epidermis model,Keraskin™

Skin irritation tests using reconstructed human epidermis (RhE) employ viability as an endpoint, but color interference or borderline results are often problematic. We examined whether the cytology of cells from treated RhE could determine skin irritancy. Six chemicals (three irritants; DnP, 1-B, PH, three non-irritants; DP, APA, HS) were evaluated in a RhE, Keraskin™. DP, HS, and PH were clearly classified with viability, but DnP, 1-B, and APA were often falsely determined, due to borderline values falling near the cutoff, 50%. In histology, the tissues treated with DnP, 1-B, and PH showed erosion of the stratum corneum, vacuolization, and necrosis in the basal layer. DP- and HS-treated tissues showed relatively normal morphology but APA induced necrosis similar to irritants. Cytology revealed that DnP, 1-B or PH depleted cells and induced irregular and abnormal cell shapes. In contrast, relatively regular and normal shapes and clear distinction between the nucleus and cytoplasm was observed for DP, APA and HS. To further confirm it, additional 10 substances, including false positives from OECD TG 439, were tested. Overall (16 substances in total), cytology: total area predicted the skin irritancy of test chemicals with the highest accuracy (87.5%) followed by cytology: cell count (81.3%), histology (75%) and viability (68.8%), confirming the utility of cytology as an alternative endpoint in the skin irritation test using RhE.