Purpose: To bridge in vitro, in situ and in vivo kinetic analyses of the hepatic clearance of a cyclopentapeptide, BQ-123, by using dispersion models that assume nonlinear pharmacokinetics.
Methods: Rat livers were perfused by the multiple indicator dilution method with doses of BQ-123 ranging from 1-1000 microg. The outflow dilution curves were fitted to a two-compartment dispersion model that was solved numerically by the finite difference method. Further, in vivo plasma concentrations of BQ-123 after bolus injection were analyzed with a hybrid physiological model that incorporates the hepatic dispersion model.
Results: The calculated Michaelis-Menten constants (Km = 12.0 microM, Vmax = 321 pmol/min/10(6) cells, P(dif) = 1.2 microl/min/10(6) cells) were comparable to those obtained previously from the in vitro isolated hepatocyte experiment (Km = 9.5 microM, Vmax = 517 pmol/min/l0(6) cells, P(dif) = 1.1 microl/min/10(6) cells). The plasma concentrations of BQ-123 at doses of 1-25 mg/kg were explained well by the hybrid physiological model.
Conclusions: These results suggest that carrier-mediated transport on the sinusoidal membrane was responsible for the in vivo hepatic elimination of BQ-123.