Prediction of oral absorption of cinnarizine – A highly supersaturating poorly soluble weak base with borderline permeability

• An in vitro approach was developed to mimic fasted state gastric emptying.
• The approach enables better investigation of the ability of weak bases like cinnarizine to supersaturate and precipitate.
• An in silico model was developed to simulate supersaturation and precipitation of weak bases in the small intestine.
• The model exhibited good agreement between predicted and observed plasma profiles for various cinnarizine tablet products.
• The model has shown to be superior to simpler in vitro–in silico models.

Two important driving forces for oral absorption of active pharmaceutical ingredients are drug dissolution and permeability in the gastrointestinal tract. Poorly soluble weak bases typically exhibit high solubility under fasted gastric conditions. However, the solubility of such drugs usually decreases drastically in the fasted small intestine, constraining drug absorption. Since there is a discrepancy in solubility between the fasted state stomach and intestine, it is crucial to examine the influence of dissolution, supersaturation and precipitation on the oral absorption of poorly soluble weak bases during and after fasted state gastric emptying.Cinnarizine is a poorly soluble weak base with borderline permeability, exhibiting supersaturation and precipitation under simulated fasted state gastric emptying conditions. Interestingly, supersaturation and precipitation of cinnarizine under fed state conditions is not expected to occur, since the drug shows good solubility in fed state biorelevant media and exhibits a positive food effect in pharmacokinetic studies. The present work is aimed at investigating the dissolution, supersaturation and precipitation behavior of marketed cinnarizine tablets under fasted and fed state conditions using biorelevant dissolution and transfer methods. In order to predict the in vivo performance of these cinnarizine formulations, the in vitro results were then coupled with different physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models, which considered either only dissolution or a combination of dissolution, supersaturation and precipitation kinetics. The results of the in silico predictions were then compared with in vivo observations.The study revealed that under fasting conditions, plasma profiles could be accurately predicted only when supersaturation and precipitation as well as dissolution were taken into account. It was concluded that for poorly soluble weak bases with moderate permeability, supersaturation and precipitation during fasted state gastric emptying may have an essential influence on oral drug absorption and thus on in vivo drug performance.

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