Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic analysis of neutrophil proliferation induced by recombinant granulocyte...

Pharmacological effect after intravenous (i.v.) or subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of human recombinant granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) was evaluated by using a physiologically based pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model. The increase of neutrophil counts in blood after s.c. administration of rhG-CSF (0.5-1.0 microgram/kg) was larger than that after i.v. administration of the same dose, while area under the curves of plasma concentration of rhG-CSF after s.c. administration was smaller than that after i.v. administration (Azuma et al., J. Clin. Therap. Med., 5, 1579-1603, 1989). Based on the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic model considering metabolic turnover of neutrophil in vivo, time course of absolute neutrophil counts in blood after either type of rhG-CSF administration to normal healthy volunteers was analyzed. The nonlinear relationship between the concentration of rhG-CSF and in vitro activity for proliferation of neutrophil could be explained by the drug-receptor-effector ternary complex model. These in vivo and in vitro models made it possible to understand the above-mentioned discrepancy of pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic behavior between i.v. and s.c. administration of rhG-CSF. Simulation of the neutrophil count-time profiles after repeated i.v. and s.c. dosing of rhG-CSF according to these models showed good agreement with the observed data. In order to obtain the rational dosage regimen of rhG-CSF from pharmacological and economical points of view, a slow constant infusion method may be more useful than rapid infusion.