A case study of in silico modelling of ciprofloxacin hydrochloride/metallic compound interactions

With the development of physiologically based absorption models, there is an increased scientific and regulatory interest in in silico modelling and simulation of drug-drug and drug-food interactions. Clinically significant interactions between ciprofloxacin and metallic compounds are widely documented. In the current study, a previously developed ciprofloxacin-specific in silico absorption model was employed in order to simulate ciprofloxacin/metallic compound interaction observed in vivo. Commercially available software GastroPlus™ (Simulations Plus Inc., USA) based on the ACAT model was used for gastrointestinal (GI) simulations. The required input parameters, relating to ciprofloxacin hydrochloride physicochemical and pharmacokinetic characteristics, were experimentally determined, taken from the literature or estimated by GastroPlus™. Parameter sensitivity analysis (PSA) was used to assess the importance of selected input parameters (solubility, permeability, stomach and small intestine transit time) in predicting percent drug absorbed. PSA identified solubility and permeability as critical parameters affecting the rate and extent of ciprofloxacin absorption. Using the selected input parameters, it was possible to generate a ciprofloxacin absorption model, without/with metal cation containing preparations co-administration, which matched well the in vivo data available. It was found that reduced ciprofloxacin absorption in the presence of aluminium hydroxide, calcium carbonate or multivitamins/zinc was accounted for by reduced drug solubility. The impact of solubility-permeability interplay on ciprofloxacin absorption can be observed in the ciprofloxacin-aluminium interaction, while in ciprofloxacin-calcium and ciprofloxacin-zinc interactions, effect of solubility was more pronounced. The results obtained indicate that in silico model developed can be successfully used to complement relevant in vitro studies in the simulation of physicochemical ciprofloxacin/metallic compound interactions.