, 2008), porcine brain endothelial cells ( Cohen-Kashi Malina et al., 2009), rat brain endothelial cells ( Nakagawa et al., 2009) and the human brain endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 ( Carl et al., 2010). The assumption made was that the other resistances to permeation apart from the cell monolayer are the same in filter inserts with and without cells. This method works well for low- and moderately-permeable test compounds but is subject to considerable uncertainty as the permeability of test compound approaches that of the aqueous boundary layer permeability

limit. This can be particularly limiting in unstirred solutions. A more systematic and rigorous approach to ABL correction is needed, to reveal the true permeability across the cell membranes to allow better discrimination and mechanistic study of transcellular pathways, and to permit a more accurate buy LY2157299 correlation analysis against in vivo data. There are several methods to determine ABL thickness in vitro (see Korjamo et al., 2009 for a detailed review). One is the pKa shift method ( Gutknecht and Tosteson, 1973) also termed ‘pKaFLUX’ method ( Ruell et al., 2003, Nielsen and Avdeef, 2004, Avdeef et al., 2004 and Avdeef et al., 2005). The pKaFLUX is the pH at the inflection point in the apparent log permeability-pH curve, where the ABL and the membrane permeability contributions

are equal. From the difference between the true pKa Obeticholic Acid solubility dmso and pKaFLUX, the intrinsic transcellular permeability of a compound P0 is derived ( Avdeef et al., 2005). The pKaFLUX method has been applied to parallel artificial membrane to permeability assay (PAMPA) and Caco-2 models for prediction of blood-intestinal and blood–brain barrier permeability ( Avdeef et al., 2005 and Avdeef, 2011). This method was found to be more robust than one

based on stirring at different RPM for ABL determination ( Korjamo et al., 2008). We have developed an in vitro porcine brain endothelial cell (PBEC) model which shows restrictive tight junctions, low paracellular permeability to sucrose and functional expression of polarized uptake and efflux transporters ( Patabendige et al., 2013a and Patabendige et al., 2013b). In the present study, we further investigated the application of the PBEC model by exploring the combination method of in vitro PBEC permeability and pKaFLUX analysis to address the ABL and to predict BBB permeability in vivo. In this pilot study, in vitro permeability assay using the PBEC model for several ionizable compounds was conducted at multiple pH for pKaFLUX analysis. The in vitro permeability data (Papp), including existing unpublished and published data ( Patabendige et al., 2013a) from the PBEC model were analyzed for ABL correction and detailed analysis of permeability data to derive intrinsic transcellular permeability P0. The in vitro–in vivo correlation of the P0 was assessed.