Prediction of the pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction of pravastatin and pitavastatin with cyclosporine by a digital liver model based on metabolism and transporter

Information of metabolic enzymes and transporters, physiological parameters of animals and demography of Chinese people were integrated to establish a digital liver model (DLM) based on metabolism and transporter and coded with VBA.  Clearance and drug-drug interaction (DDI) of candidate drugs in animal and human could be predicted based on the pharmacokinetic data obtained from in vitro and in vivo experiments.  Pravastatin and pitavastatin were selected as the samples to examine this model, where their clearance and their DDI with cyclosporine were predicted.  The results showed that the predicted values of median parameters in same species were within twofold of observed values for 83.3% (5/6).  The program’s successful prediction in DDI tendency might indicate its application in optimizing the dosage regimen and reducing the risk of clinical trial.