Compartmental transit and dispersion model analysis of small intestinal transit flow in humans

The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the small intestinal transit flow in humans using quantitative and mechanistic approaches. We presented a compartmental transit model to anatomize the transit process of oral dosage forms through the human small intestinal tract. A dispersion model with constant input rate and a single-compartment model were also employed to depict the dispersion and fluid flow in the human small intestinal tract. The literature data of the small intestinal transit time were utilized to statistically construct transit flow profile. The mean small intestinal transit time in humans was found to be 199 min with a 95% confidence interval of 7 min. It was demonstrated that the small intestinal transit flow profile was well characterized by both compartmental transit and dispersion models, but not by the single-compartment model. We concluded that the compartmental transit model might be superior to the single-compartment model and less complex than the dispersion model.