Novel approaches applying quantitative clinical pharmacology or pharmacometrics have been increasingly embraced by the drug development community in the last decade. State-of-the-art population modeling and simulation enable better characterization and prediction of drug exposure. For narrow therapeutic index drugs such as mycophenolic acid (MPA) which exhibit large inter-individual variation in drug exposure, pharmacometric analysis can be of great clinical benefit. This review aims to summarize the recent progress of using pharmacometric tools toward individualized MPA therapeutics. The population pharmacokinetic models including those developed for special populations and Bayesian estimators for therapeutic drug management will be reviewed. Special attention will be given to new methodologies such as nonparametric population modeling and the physiological-based pharmacokinetics modeling (PBPK) that emerged recently as alternatives to the parametric population approach to predict MPA exposure. D-Optimal design strategies applied in clinical study design will also be reviewed. Lastly, the potential of using a pharmacodynamic based optimal treatment strategy by focusing on MPA's target enzyme inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) will be discussed.

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  Methotrexate (MTX) is a derivative of folic acid (folate) and commonly used as an anchor drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of MTX entirely depends on the function of specific transporters that belong to the two major superfamilies, solute carrier transporters and ATP-binding cassette transporters. Several transporters have been identified as being able to mediate the transport of MTX, and suggested to be involved in the disposition in the body and in the regulation of intracellular metabolism in target cells, together with several enzymes involved in folate metabolism. Thus, drug–drug interactions through the transporters and their genetic polymorphisms may alter the PK and PD of MTX, resulting in an interpatient variability of efficacy. This review summarizes the PK and PD of MTX, particularly in relation to RA therapy and focuses on the roles of transporters involved in PK and PD with the aim of facilitating an understanding of the molecular basis of the mechanism of MTX action to achieve its effective use in RA therapy.

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  Cytotoxic anticancer drugs are the most challenging therapeutic agents among all medicines with relatively narrow efficacy profiles. Therefore, medical oncologists have to practically manage the risk of severe toxic effects to optimize treatment outcomes. Dose and treatment-schedule recommendations for cytotoxic anticancer agents are determined on the basis of clinical trials. Patients enrolled in clinical trials are those likely to receive the drug in clinical practice, excluding those with conditions such as organ dysfunction, obesity, advanced age, or comorbidity. On the other hand, the ‘real world’ includes large numbers of such patients who do not meet the eligibility criteria of clinical trials. However, there is a paucity of data from sufficiently powered pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies to support dosage recommendations in such patients. Consequently, dose levels and treatment schedules for chemotherapy in these subjects are somewhat arbitrary and not evidence-based. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies of patients in the ‘real world’ are needed to address this issue. In this review article, we describe general aspects of clinical pharmacology in cancer patients enrolled in clinical trials and those in the ‘real world,’ and introduce recent findings regarding the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of irinotecan and S-1 in ‘real world’ cancer patients.

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  CYP2D6 polymorphisms show large geographical and interethnic differences. Variations in CYP2D6 activity may impact upon a patient's pain level and may contribute to interindividual variations in the response to opioids. This paper reviews the evidence on how CYP2D6 polymorphisms might influence pain sensitivity and clinical response to codeine and tramadol. For example, it is shown that (1) CYP2D6 poor metabolizers (PMs) may be less efficient at synthesizing endogenous morphine compared with other metabolizers. In contrast, ultra-rapid metabolizers (UMs) may be more efficient than other metabolizers at synthesizing endogenous morphine, thus strengthening endogenous pain modulation. Additionally, for codeine and tramadol that are bioactivated by CYP2D6, PMs may undergo no metabolite formation, leading to inadequate analgesia. Conversely, UMs may experience quicker analgesic effects but be prone to higher mu-opioid-related toxicity. The literature suggested the potential usefulness of the determination of CYP2D6 polymorphisms in elucidating serious adverse events and in preventing subsequent inappropriate selection or doses of codeine and tramadol. Notably, even though many studies investigated a possible role of the CYP2D6 polymorphisms on pain sensitivity, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of these drugs, the results of analgesia and adverse effects are conflicting. More studies are required to demonstrate genetically determined unresponsiveness and risk of developing serious adverse events for patients with pain and these should involve larger numbers of patients in different population types.

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  Human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells were differentiated into the endoderm using activin A and were then treated with fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) for differentiation into intestinal stem cell-like cells. These immature cells were then differentiated into enterocyte-like cells using epidermal growth factor (EGF) in 2% fetal bovine serum (FBS). At the early stage of differentiation, mRNA expression of caudal type homeobox 2 (CDX2), a major transcription factor related to intestinal development and differentiation, and leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5 (LGR5), an intestinal stem cell marker, was markedly increased by treatment with FGF2. When cells were cultured in medium containing EGF and a low concentration of FBS, mRNAs of specific markers of intestinal epithelial cells, including sucrase–isomaltase, the intestinal oligopeptide transporter SLC15A1/peptide transporter 1 (PEPT1), and the major metabolizing enzyme CYP3A4, were expressed. In addition, sucrase–isomaltase protein expression and uptake of β-Ala-Lys-N-7-amino-4-methylcoumarin-3-acetic acid (β-Ala-Lys-AMCA), a fluorescence-labeled substrate of the oligopeptide transporter, were detected. These results demonstrate a simple and direct method for differentiating human iPS cells into functional enterocyte-like cells.

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  The natural variant of the cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP2D6.1, CYP2D6.17, is most common in African populations, has three amino acid substitutions (T107I, R296C, and S486T) compared to the wild-type, and is known to have a different ligand preference from CYP2D6.1. It is becoming increasingly important to understand differences in the metabolism of medicines in different ethnic groups in order to assess the relevance of clinical data from different countries. This study investigated differences in the inhibition profiles of drugs for CYP2D6 with respect to gene polymorphisms. Firstly, we used computer docking with six drugs to several CYP2D6.1 structures, sampled from the trajectory of MD simulations, and calculated MM-GB/SA scores representing binding free energies. We then used regression analysis to predict the potency with which drugs inhibited CYP2D6.1 based on MM-GB/SA scores. The pKi-values obtained were in good agreement with experimental values measured for the six drugs (r² = 0.81). We carried out the same analysis for CYP2D6.17 and the pKi-values calculated were also in good agreement with experimental values (r² = 0.92). Finally, we were able to successfully explain the different abilities of CYP2D6.1 and CYP2D6.17 to metabolize drugs in different ethnic groups with reference to their 3D-structures.

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  Levetiracetam [E Keppra^®] is a second generation antiepileptic drug for different types of epilepsy in adults and children ≥1 month. The objective is to develop a population pharmacokinetic model to describe the pharmacokinetics of levetiracetam in Japanese children and adults as well as North American children, the purpose being to explore potential dosing recommendations in Japanese children. Levetiracetam plasma concentration-time data were obtained from Japanese adult and pediatric clinical studies. The data were analyzed through non-linear mixed effects modelling. The model was used to perform simulations and compare the exposure in Japanese children and adults. It was subsequently extended to North American children through an external validation. A one-compartment model with first-order absorption and first-order elimination adequately described the data. The exposure parameters determined based on the simulations in children were well within the adult range. The external validation against historical data from North American children was successful. The integrated population pharmacokinetic model provided a good description of the data, confirming the similarity of levetiracetam pharmacokinetics in these various populations. In Japanese children, a target dose of 10 to 30 mg/kg twice daily ensures the same exposure as the recommended dose in Japanese adults of 500 to 1,500 mg twice daily.

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  The aim of this study was to examine whether organic cation/carnitine transporter 2 (OCTN2/SLC22A5) plays a role in the human blood-brain barrier (BBB) by evaluating its functional activity in human brain endothelial cells (hCMEC/D3), which are considered to be a model of the BBB. The uptake of [³H]L-carnitine by hCMEC/D3 cells was time-, extracellular sodium- and concentration-dependent, with a K_m value of 15.7 µM. These results are consistent with the properties of OCTN2-mediated L-carnitine transport. hCMEC/D3 cells showed relatively high expression of OCTN2 mRNA, and this expression was effectively decreased at 24–72 h after lipofection of cells with OCTN2 siRNA under optimized conditions. [³H]L-Carnitine uptake was dramatically suppressed by silencing of the OCTN2 gene. The inhibitory effect of OCTN2 gene silencing was similar to that of an excess amount of unlabeled L-carnitine. These results indicate that OCTN2 is involved in L-carnitine transport at the human BBB.

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  Human cytochrome P450 CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 catalyze nicotine metabolisms and mediate activation of tobacco-specific carcinogens including 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL). In this study, we found rhinacanthins A, B, and C isolated from Rhinacanthus nasutus potentially inhibited coumarin 7-hydroxylation mediated by reconstituted purified recombinant CYP2A6 and CYP2A13. Rhinacanthins A–C are mechanism-based inactivators of CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 as they cause concentration, time and NADPH-dependent inhibition. Among the three rhinacanthins, rhinacanthin-B possessed highest inhibitory potency against CYP2A13 with apparent K_I and k_inact of 0.16 µM and 0.1 min⁻¹, respectively, while values of 0.44 µM and 0.12 min⁻¹ were found against CYP2A6. Rhinacanthin-C had least inhibition potency, with apparent K_I and k_inact of 0.97 µM and 0.07 min⁻¹ for CYP2A6, respectively, and values of 1.68 µM and 0.05 min⁻¹ for CYP2A13. Rhinacanthin-A inhibited CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 with apparent K_I values of 0.69 and 0.42 µM, respectively and apparent k_inact of 0.18 and 0.06 min⁻¹, respectively. The inhibition of both enzymes by rhinacanthins A–C could not be prevented by addition of trapping agents or reversed by dialysis or potassium ferricyanide. These findings demonstrated that rhinacanthins A–C, which are 1,4-naphthoquinone derivatives, irreversibly inhibited CYP2A6 and CYP2A13 in a mechanism-based inhibition mode.

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  We retrospectively examined whether cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A5 genotypes are associated with high-dose steroid pulse treatment-induced functional gain of tacrolimus biotransformation in living-donor liver transplant patients. Concentrations of tacrolimus and its 3 primary metabolites, 13-O-demethyl tacrolimus (M-I), 31-O-demethyl tacrolimus (M-II), and 15-O-demethyl tacrolimus (M-III), were measured in trough blood samples from 18 liver transplant patients, by liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In patients engrafted with a CYP3A5*1-carrying liver but not with a CYP3A5*3/*3-carrying liver, the concentration/dose ratio of tacrolimus significantly fell after therapy, while ratios of M-I/tacrolimus, M-II/tacrolimus, and M-III/tacrolimus were significantly higher after therapy than before (p = 0.032, p = 0.023, and p = 0.0078, respectively). After steroid pulse therapy, the concentration of tacrolimus measured by immunoassay was significantly higher than that measured by LC-MS/MS in patients engrafted with a CYP3A5*1-carrying liver, but not those engrafted with a CYP3A5*3/*3-carrying liver. This suggests that the increased ratio of tacrolimus metabolites/tacrolimus can be explained by induction of CYP3A5 via high-dose steroid pulse therapy. Further, the concentrations of tacrolimus measured by the immunoassays were overestimated, partly because of cross-reactivity of the monoclonal antibody they incorporated to detect tacrolimus, with the increased metabolites in patients with a CYP3A5*1-carrying graft liver.

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  The nucleotide sequences of the proximal promoters of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A8 and 1A9 genes are very similar. However, UGT1A8 and 1A9 are mainly expressed in extra-hepatic and hepatic cells, respectively. Using mutants of UGT1A8 and 1A9 proximal promoters, we revealed their critical differences in terms of promoter activity and the role of the T-repeat region (T-region) conserved in both promoters. In extra-hepatic cells, Caco2, the activity of UGT1A9 proximal promoter increased to 73.4 ± 8.5% of that of the UGT1A8 proximal promoter with only 4 base changes: −160C, −152A, −62T, and −59G. The derivatives of the T-region showed that this region is not necessary for promoter activity, but the length of T repeats influences the activity somewhat. Therefore, the cause of the low activity of the UGT1A9 proximal promoter may be not only 4 base changes, but also the truncation of T repeats. From these results, the UGT1A9 proximal promoter was assumed to change into the non-active form from the original sequence, and this might be one of the reasons for the tissue-specific expression of UGT1A9.

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  Bile salt export pump (BSEP) plays a major role in biliary secretion of bile salts; therefore, drug-induced cholestasis could occur because of BSEP inhibition by drugs. Drug interaction on hepatic bile canalicular transporters such as BSEP with prodrugs that are rapidly metabolized has not been evaluated well. In the present study, candesartan cilexetil (CIL) was used as a model compound and its inhibitory potential against BSEP was determined in sandwich-cultured human hepatocytes (hSCH) as well as in BSEP-expressing membrane vesicles. CIL exhibited potent BSEP inhibition with an IC₅₀ value of 6.2 µM in the transport assay using membrane vesicles. In contrast, BSEP inhibition by CIL was not observed in hSCH after 120 min exposure. This discordance is possibly explained by metabolic elimination of CIL in hSCH because BSEP inhibition became reversely pronounced under the conditions where CIL metabolism was suppressed by diisopropyl fluorophosphates. The results observed in hSCH are consistent with the fact that liver dysfunction or jaundice occurs with low frequency in clinical use of CIL, which may not be obtained by membrane vesicle study on the effect of CIL on BSEP.

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  Guanidinosuccinic acid (GSA) is a uremic toxin, and its excess accumulation in the CSF under uremic conditions is thought to produce neural excitotoxicity. It is important to understand the manner of GSA distribution/elimination from the circulating blood and CSF and its alteration in the presence of renal failure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the kinetics of GSA in the circulating blood using a rat model of cisplatin-induced renal failure and GSA transport between the circulating blood and CSF. The AUC_inf and t_1/2 of GSA in cisplatin-treated rats were approximately 7-fold greater than those in normal rats. The CL_tot of GSA in cisplatin-treated rats was reduced by 88% compared with normal rats, whereas the V_ss of GSA did not differ between normal and cisplatin-treated rats. These results suggest that the renal elimination of GSA is attenuated in cisplatin-treated rats. In normal rats, the elimination clearance of GSA from the CSF (15.5 µL/(min·rat)) was found to be 88-fold greater than its blood-to-CSF influx clearance (0.176 µL/(min·rat)). Thus, the greater elimination clearance of GSA from the CSF, compared with the influx clearance, may contribute to the maintenance of a low GSA concentration in the CSF.

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  Affinity of different organs for verapamil is highly variable and organ-specific. For example, the drug exhibits high levels of accumulation in lung tissues. A transporter recognising verapamil as a substrate has previously been identified in human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) and in rat retinal capillary endothelial (TR-iBRB2) cells. This transporter is distinct from any of the cloned organic cation transporters. Therefore, we hypothesised that the verapamil transporter is also functionally expressed in the human respiratory mucosa. Moreover, we tested the hypothesis that this transporter interacts with pulmonary administered cationic drugs such as β₂-agonists. The uptake of [³H]verapamil was studied in A549 human alveolar epithelial cell monolayers at different times and concentrations. The influence of extracellular proton concentration and various organic cations on verapamil uptake was determined. Verapamil uptake into A549 cells was time- and concentration-dependent, sensitive to pH and had a K_m value of 39.8 ± 8.2 µM. Verapamil uptake was also sensitive to inhibition by amantadine, quinidine and pyrilamine, but insensitive to other typical modulators of organic cation and choline transporters. Whilst we demonstrated functional activity of the elusive verapamil transporter at the lung epithelium, our data suggest that this transporter does not interact with β₂-agonists at therapeutic concentrations.

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  UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 2B15 (UGT2B15) is involved in the glucoronidation of steroid hormones as well as many drugs. Genetic variations in UGT2B15 have been shown to affect enzyme function and suggested to have a role in human diseases, such as breast and prostate cancers. In the present study, we sequenced genomic DNA from 50 normal Korean subjects to identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in UGT2B15. A total of thirteen genetic variations were found: two in exons, two in introns, seven in the 5′-untranslated region (UTR), and two in the 3′-UTR. The order and frequency distribution of UGT2B15 variations was: −1139T>C (rs9994887), −508G>A (rs1120265), −506T>A (rs1580083), 253T>G (rs1902023) (42%), 23687A>T (rs4148271) (31%), 2635A>T (rs2045100) (28%), −497C>T (14%), −378C>T (14%), 23669C>T (12%), and 23476A>C (rs4148269) (11%), with other minor alleles with a frequency of <10%. Thirteen variations were used to characterize linkage disequilibrium structures at the UGT2B15 locus. Five tag SNPs were identified, and the observed allelic frequencies were compared to those of other ethnic populations. This information describing genetic polymorphisms in UGT2B15 could serve as an important resource for studying individual variations in drug and hormone metabolism in Korean as well as other ethnic populations.

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