The Effect of Biorelevant Hydrodynamic Conditions on Drug Dissolution from Extended-Release Tablets in the Dynamic Colon Model

PETR: A novel peristaltic mixed tubular bioreactor simulating human colonic conditions

A novel bioreactor simulating human colonic conditions for in vitro cultivation of intestinal microbiota is presented. The PEristaltic mixed Tubular bioReactor (PETR) is modular designed and periodically kneaded to simulate intestinal peristalsis. The reactor is introduced, characterized from a bioprocess engineer's perspective and discussed in its ability to mimic colon conditions. PETR provides physiological temperature and appropriate anaerobic conditions, simulates intestinal peristalsis, and has a mean residence time of 32.8 ± 0.8 h comparable to the adult human colon. The single-tube design enables a time-constant and longitudinally progressive pH gradient from 5.5 to 7.0. Using a dialysis liquid containing high molecular weight polyethylene glycol, the integrated dialysis system efficiently absorbs short chain fatty acids (up to 60%) and water (on average 850 mL d-1 ). Cultivation of a typical gut bacterium (Bifidobacterium animalis) was performed to demonstrate the applicability for controlled microbiota cultivation. PETR is unique in combining simulation of the entire colon, peristaltic mixing, dialytic water and metabolite absorption, and a progressive pH gradient in a single-tube design. PETR is a further step to precise replication of colonic conditions in vitro for reliable and reproducible microbiota research, such as studying the effect of food compounds, prebiotics or probiotics, or the development and treatment of infections with enteric pathogens, but also for further medical applications such as drug delivery studies or to study the effect of drugs on and their degradation by the microbiota.

Use of In Vitro Dynamic Colon Model (DCM) to Inform a Physiologically Based Biopharmaceutic Model (PBBM) to Predict the In Vivo Performance of a Modified-Release Formulation of Theophylline

A physiologically based biopharmaceutic model (PBBM) of a modified-release formulation of theophylline (Uniphyllin Continus® 200 mg tablet) was developed and implemented to predict the pharmacokinetic (PK) data of healthy male volunteers by integrating dissolution profiles measured in a biorelevant in vitro model: the Dynamic Colon Model (DCM). The superiority of the DCM over the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) Apparatus II (USP II) was demonstrated by the superior predictions for the 200 mg tablet (average absolute fold error (AAFE): 1.1-1.3 (DCM) vs. 1.3-1.5 (USP II). The best predictions were obtained using the three motility patterns (antegrade and retrograde propagating waves, baseline) in the DCM, which produced similar PK profiles. However, extensive erosion of the tablet occurred at all agitation speeds used in USP II (25, 50 and 100 rpm), resulting in an increased drug release rate in vitro and overpredicted PK data. The PK data of the Uniphyllin Continus® 400 mg tablet could not be predicted with the same accuracy using dissolution profiles from the DCM, which might be explained by differences in upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract residence times between the 200 and 400 mg tablets. Thus, it is recommended that the DCM be used for dosage forms in which the main release phenomena take place in the distal GI tract. However, the DCM again showed a better performance based on the overall AAFE compared to the USP II. Regional dissolution profiles within the DCM cannot currently be integrated into Simcyp®, which might limit the predictivity of the DCM. Thus, further compartmentalization of the colon within PBBM platforms is required to account for observed intra-regional differences in drug distribution.