Passive transport drug absorption

A volume-related term (expressed by polarizability) and electrostatics (expressed by partial atomic charge) made minor contributions to intestinal absorption in humans. Lipophilicity, expressed by logP or logD values, shows no correlation with the human absorphon data. Recently, similar results were obtained for 154 passively transported drugs on the basis of surface thermodynamics descriptors [39] ... 

The physiologically based model developed by Willman et al. [53, 54], for the prediction of both rat and human Fibs, was shown to be predictive for the human situation if passively transported compounds were studied. In their study, they used a semiempirical formula for the prediction of human permeability trained with a set of 119 passively transported drugs that did not show solubility or dissolution rate-limited absorption. 

E. P., McEarland,. W., Schaper, K.-J. Quantitative estimation of drug absorption in humans for passively transported compounds on the basis of their physico-chemical parameters. 

FIG. 2 Mechanisms of drug transfer in the cellular layers that line different compartments in the body. These mechanisms regulate drug absorption, distribution, and elimination. The figure illustrates these mechanisms in the intestinal wall. (1) Passive transcellular diffusion across the lipid bilayers, (2) paracellular passive diffusion, (3) efflux by P-glycoprotein, (4) metabolism during drug absorption, (5) active transport, and (6) transcytosis [251]. 

Let us conclude this section by proposing that provided that the drug is sufficiently soluble in the gastrointestinal fluids, the complex process of intestinal drug absorption can often be satisfactorily described by focusing on passive transport across the cell membrane, and that the development of models that predict passive transcellular permeability is particularly important. Such models are the focus of the remaining part of this chapter. 

The greater proportion of the dose of a drug administered orally will be absorbed in the small intestine. However, on the assumption that passive transport of the nonionized form of a drug determines its rate of absorption, which of the following compounds will be absorbed to the least extent in the stomach ... 

The successful application of in vitro models of intestinal drug absorption depends on the ability of the in vitro model to mimic the relevant characteristics of the in vivo biological barrier. Most compounds are absorbed by passive transcellular diffusion. To undergo tran-scellular transport a molecule must cross the lipid bilayer of the apical and basolateral cell membranes. In recent years, there has been a widespread acceptance of a technique, artificial membrane permeation assay (PAMPA), to estimate intestinal permeability.117118 The principle of the PAMPA is that, diffusion across a lipid layer, mimics transepithelial permeation. Experiments are conducted by applying a drug solution on top of a lipid layer covering a filter that separates top (donor) and bottom (receiver) chambers. The rate of drug appearance in the bottom wells should reflect the diffusion across the lipid layer, and by extrapolation, across the epithelial cell layer. 

Although the impact of transporters on absorption appears to be moderate there is increasing evidence showing that transporters can significantly affect drug distribution, in particular for low permeable compounds. In this context transporter assays need to be prioritized for compounds with medium to low passive permeability. 

In a recent review of pharmacokinetics in drug discovery, Ruiz-Garcia et al. [81] compiled an exhaustive list of software resources for absorption prediction. The main topic in the described databases is transporters, in particular the ATP-binding cassette, of which the efflux transporter P-gp and the peptide transporter PEPTl are well known examples. These examples show that science is moving away from the simplistic passive transport view of permeability and towards an all-inclusive, mechanism-understanding model of absorption, which takes account of all the interactions between the agents involved in the specific permeation process. 

Drug absorption occurs from the site(s) of drug absorption (e.g., gut, lung, nasal epithelium) by either active (e.g., transport mediated) or passive mechanisms. The bioavailability (F) of a drug is the fraction that reaches the systemic circulation and is ultimately avail-... 

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