In Situ Intestinal Perfusion in Rodents: Future Perspectives for Application on Absorption Studies and Classification of Drugs

Background: In 1995, the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS) was proposed by Amidon and colleagues as a tool that considers two important parameters regarding drugs: solubility and permeability. Since then, several methods for solubility and permeability studies have been developed for drug delivery and absorption prediction. In recent years, permeability has gained a great highlight and the interaction between a molecule and a biological membrane is not enough to predict the in vivo behavior of a compound. Method: Thus, different methods for permeability assessment are currently used for mechanistic studies including involvement of carriers and several transport pathways. Furthermore, the investigation regarding metabolism has been a focus in recent researches. Based on this idea, Wu and Benet proposed a new tool called Biopharmaceutics Drug Disposition Classification System (BDDCS), where drugs are classified into four classes considering their solubility and metabolism. Results: Among several methods for permeability studies, the in situ intestinal perfusion is considered the closest to in vivo conditions due advantages as intact blood supply and innervation. Conclusion: This review presents the in situ intestinal perfusion model and its application for permeability/transport studies of drugs and intestinal metabolism. Also, this paper discusses about how the in situ perfusion studies can be used for classification of drugs and the future perspectives for in vivo absorption prediction.