Effects of Uremic Toxins on Transport and Metabolism of Different Biopharmaceutics Drug Disposition Classification System Xenobiotics

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is recognized to cause pharmacokinetic changes in renally excreted drugs; however, pharmacokinetic changes are also reported for drugs that are nonrenally eliminated. Few studies have investigated how uremic toxins may affect drug transporters and metabolizing enzymes and how these may result in pharmacokinetic/metabolic changes in CKD. Here, we investigated the effects of uremic toxins and human uremic serum on the transport of the prototypical transporter substrate [3H]-estrone sulfate and three Biopharmaceutics Drug Disposition Classification System (BDDCS) drugs, propranolol, losartan, and eprosartan. We observed a significant decrease in [3H]-estrone sulfate, losartan, and eprosartan uptake with some uremic toxins in both transfected cells and rat hepatocytes. The uptake of losartan was decreased in rat and human hepatocytes (28% and 48%, respectively) in the presence of hemodialysis (HD) serum. Time-course studies of losartan showed a 27%, 65%, and 68% increase in area under the curve (AUC) in the presence of HD serum, rifampin, and sulfaphenazole, respectively. Intracellular losartan AUC decreased significantly in the treatment groups, and the metabolite AUC decreased by 41% and 26% in rifampin- and sulfaphenazole-treated group, respectively. The intracellular AUC of eprosartan increased 190% in the presence of HD serum. These studies indicate that the uremic toxins contained in HD serum play an important role in drug disposition through drug transporters, and that there would be differential effects depending on the BDDCS classification of the drug. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 100:3831–3842, 2011