Novel in vitro dynamic metabolic system for predicting the human pharmacokinetics of tolbutamide.

Liver metabolism is commonly considered the major determinant in drug discovery and development. Many in vitro drug metabolic studies have been developed and applied to understand biotransformation. However, these methods have disadvantages, resulting in inconsistencies between in vivo and in vitro experiments. A major factor is that they are static systems that do not consider the transport process in the liver. Here we developed an in vitro dynamic metabolic system (Bio-PK metabolic system) to mimic the human pharmacokinetics of tolbutamide. Human liver microsomes (HLMs) encapsulated in a F127'-Acr-Bis hydrogel (FAB hydrogel) were placed in the incubation system. A microdialysis sampling technique was used to monitor the metabolic behavior of tolbutamide in hydrogels. The measured results in the system were used to fit the in vitro intrinsic clearance of tolbutamide with a mathematical model. Then, a PBPK model that integrated the corresponding in vitro intrinsic clearance was developed to verify the system. Compared to the traditional incubation method, reasonable PK profiles and the in vivo clearance of tolbutamide could be predicted by integrating the intrinsic clearance of tolbutamide obtained from the Bio-PK metabolic system into the PBPK model. The predicted maximum concentration (Cmax), area under the concentration-time curve (AUC), time to reach the maximum plasma concentration (Tmax) and in vivo clearance were consistent with the clinically observed data. This novel in vitro dynamic metabolic system can compensate for some limitations of traditional incubation methods; it may provide a new method for screening compounds and predicting pharmacokinetics in the early stages, supporting the development of compounds.

[Absorption of flavonoids from Abelmoschus manihot extract by in situ intestinal perfusion].

To explore the mechanism of the absorption of flavonoids from Abelmoschus manihot flowers, in situ intestinal recirculation was performed to study the effect of the absorption at different concentrations and different intestinal regions. To evaluate the conditions of the absorption of six flavonoids from Abelmoschus manihot flowers, the concentrations of Abelmoschus manihot in the perfusion solution were determined by HPLC at predesigned time. And we have investigated the inhibitory effect of six flavonoids from Abelmoschus manihot flowers on P-glycoprotein (P-gp) drug efflux pump. The results demonstrated that the absorption rates of flavonoids from Abelmoschus manihot flowers are not significantly different (P > 0.05) at various drug concentrations, the absorption of flavonoids from Abelmoschus manihot flowers is a first-order process with the passive diffusion mechanism. The absorption rates of each of flavonoids are significantly different. The absorption rate of flavonoid glycoside was lower than that of aglycone; the flavonoids from Abelmoschus manihot flowers could be absorbed in all of the intestinal segments. The best parts of intestine to absorb hyperoside and myricetin are jejunum and duodenum, separately. Verapamil could enhance the absorption of isoquercitrin, hyperoside, myricetin and quercetin-3'-O-glucoside by inhibiting P-glycoprotein (P-gp) drug efflux pump.

[Identification of the metabolites of Sinisan extract in rat plasma, urine, feces and bile after intragastric administration].

Sinisan is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in treating various diseases; however, the in vivo metabolic profile of its multiple components remains unknown. In this paper, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was applied to identify the metabolites of Sinisan extract in rat plasma, urine, feces and bile after intragastric administration. Using MS(E) and mass defect filter techniques, 41 metabolites of 10 parent compounds (naringin, naringenin, hesperidin, neohesperidin, liquiritin, liquiritigenin, glycyrrhizic acid, glycyrrhetinic acid, saikosaponin a and saikosaponin d) were detected and tentatively identified. It was shown by our results that these compounds was metabolized to the forms of hydroxylation, glucuronidation, sulfation, glucuronidation with sulfation and glucuronidation with hydroxylation in vivo.