Pharmacokinetic modeling of the sinusoidal efflux of anionic ligands from the isolated perfused rat liver: the influence of albumin.

This study contains a pharmacokinetic analysis on the efflux of organic anions from the liver into the bloodstream (sinusoidal efflux) with specific reference to the influence of albumin. The net sinusoidal efflux rate of dibromosulfophthalein (DBSP) from preloaded livers, being the resultant of sinusoidal efflux and reuptake of ligand by hepatocytes downstream the sinusoid, can be strongly increased by the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA), a protein having multiple binding sites for DBSP. We previously attributed this effect to a reduction of reuptake through extracellular binding of the organic anion to the protein, rather than to an intrinsic stimulatory effect on the actual membrane transport process from the cells. In the present study we tested this hypothesis using a pharmacokinetic multicompartment liver model. This model resembles the parallel tube model in that the liver is described by several compartments placed in series instead of a single well-stirred compartment and it takes into account rates of dissociation and association in binding to proteins in the sinusoidal space. The model parameters were fitted from the sinusoidal efflux and biliary excretion data from efflux experiments measuring the stimulatory effect of various concentrations of BSA. Equilibrium binding of DBSP to albumin as well as the dissociation rate constant (koff) were determined in vitro with rapid filtration techniques. The experimental data could not be fitted satisfactorily when using the experimentally obtained values of the protein association and dissociation rate constants (kon and koff). However, they could be simulated accurately assuming 16 times higher values for the association and dissociation rate constant compared to those determined in vitro. Time constants of the perfusate flow, liver (re)uptake, and protein association and dissociation indicate that binding equilibrium does not exist within the sinusoids and that, in particular at low protein concentrations, the net sinusoidal efflux rate is association rate-limited: A large fraction of the ligand effluxed from the cell into the median is taken up by the hepatocyte before binding to the proteins occurs. Higher kon and koff values predicted by the model might indicate altered DBSP-albumin binding characteristics upon passage through the liver but alternatively can be explained by an intrinsic effect of albumin on the carrier-mediated efflux process. Efflux experiments showed a marked stimulatory effect of the protein on sinusoidal efflux but only a moderate effect on biliary excretion, despite a strong decrease in liver content. These patterns indicate that sinusoidal efflux and biliary excretion occur from two different intracellular compartments that equilibrate slowly.