The Use of Transporter Probe Drug Cocktails for the Assessment of Transporter-Based Drug–Drug Interactions in a Clinical Setting—Proposal of a Four Component Transporter Cocktail

Abstract

Probe drug cocktails are used clinically to assess the potential for drug-drug interactions (DDIs), and in particular, DDIs resulting from coadministration of substrates and inhibitors of cytochrome P450 enzymes. However, a probe drug cocktail has not been identified to assess DDIs involving inhibition of drug transporters. We propose a cocktail consisting of the following substrates to explore the potential for DDIs caused by inhibition of key transporters: digoxin (P-glycoprotein, P-gp), rosuvastatin (breast cancer resistance protein, BCRP; organic anion transporting polypeptides, OATP), metformin (organic cation transporter, OCT; multidrug and toxin extrusion transporters, MATE), and furosemide (organic anion transporter, OAT). Furosemide was evaluated in vitro, and is a substrate of OAT1 and OAT3, with Km values of 38.9 and 21.5 μM, respectively. Furosemide was also identified as a substrate of BCRP, OATP1B1, and OATP1B3. Furosemide inhibited BCRP (50% inhibition of drug transport: 170 μM), but did not inhibit OATP1B1, OATP1B3, OCT2, MATE1, and MATE2-K at concentrations below 300 μM, and P-gp at concentrations below 2000 μM. Conservative approaches for the estimation of the likelihood of in vivo DDIs indicate a remote chance of in vivo transporter inhibition by these probe drugs when administered at low single oral doses. This four component probe drug cocktail is therefore proposed for clinical evaluation.