The Past, Present and Future of Intestinal In Vitro Cell Systems for Drug Absorption Studies

The intestinal epithelium acts as a selective barrier for the absorption of water, nutrients and orally administered drugs. To evaluate the gastrointestinal permeability of a candidate molecule, scientists and drug developers have a multitude of cell culture models at their disposal. Static transwell cultures constitute the most extensively characterized intestinal in vitro system and can accurately categorize molecules into low, intermediate and high permeability compounds. However, they lack key aspects of intestinal physiology, including the cellular complexity of the intestinal epithelium, flow, mechanical strain, or interactions with intestinal mucus and microbes. To emulate these features, a variety of different culture paradigms, including microfluidic chips, organoids and intestinal slice cultures have been developed. Here, we provide an updated overview of intestinal in vitro cell culture systems and critically review their suitability for drug absorption studies. The available data show that these advanced culture models offer impressive possibilities for emulating intestinal complexity. However, there is a paucity of systematic absorption studies and benchmarking data and it remains unclear whether the increase in model complexity and costs translates into improved drug permeability predictions. In the absence of such data, conventional static transwell cultures remain the current gold-standard paradigm for drug absorption studies. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Pharmacists Association (R).

Automated summary

The intestinal epithelium acts as a selective barrier for water, nutrients, and orally administered drugs. Scientists and drug developers use various cell culture models to evaluate the gastrointestinal permeability of candidate molecules. Advanced culture models show potential for emulating intestinal complexity, but there is a lack of systematic absorption studies and benchmarking data to confirm their reliability, leaving conventional static transwell cultures as the current gold standard for drug absorption studies.