RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Brain Tissue Binding of Drugs: Evaluation and Validation of Solid Supported Porcine Brain Membrane Vesicles (TRANSIL) as a Novel High-Throughput Method JF Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO Drug Metab Dispos FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 312 OP 321 DO 10.1124/dmd.110.036095 VO 39 IS 2 A1 Raffaele Longhi A1 Silvia Corbioli A1 Stefano Fontana A1 Federicia Vinco A1 Simone Braggio A1 Lydia Helmdach A1 Jürgen Schiller A1 Hinnerk Boriss YR 2011 UL http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/39/2/312.abstract AB Estimating the unbound fraction of drugs in brain has become essential for the evaluation and interpretation of the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of new central nervous system drug candidates. Dialysis-based methods are considered to be accurate for estimating the fraction unbound in brain; however, these techniques are hampered by a low throughput. In this study, we present a novel, matrix-free, high-throughput method for estimating the unbound fraction, based on a sample pooling approach combining the TRANSIL brain absorption assay with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The base measurement of the TRANSIL approach is the affinity to brain membranes, and this method is used directly to predict the free fraction in brain. The method was evaluated by comparing the free fraction of drugs in brain [fu,brain (%)] obtained using the TRANSIL brain absorption assay and equilibrium dialysis methods for a test set of 65 drugs (27 marketed and 38 proprietary drugs). A good correlation (r2 > 0.93) of fu,brain (%) between the TRANSIL brain absorption assay and equilibrium dialysis was observed. Moreover, we compared the lipid composition of rat and porcine brain and analyzed the influence of the brain albumin content on brain tissue binding measurement. The comparison of the lipid composition indicated only minor differences between rat and porcine brain, and albumin appears to have a low impact on brain tissue binding measurements. The TRANSIL brain absorption assay with sample pooling methodology not only significantly reduces the biological matrix required but also increases the throughput, compared with the conventional dialysis methods.