A Semi-Mechanistic Population Pharmacokinetic Model of Noscapine in Healthy Subjects Considering Hepatic First-Pass Extraction and CYP2C9 Genotypes

Noscapine is a commonly used cough suppressant, with ongoing research on its anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor properties. The drug has a pronounced pharmacokinetic variability. This evaluation aims to describe the pharmacokinetics of noscapine using a semi-mechanistic population pharmacokinetic model and to identify covariates that could explain inter-individual pharmacokinetic variability. Forty-eight healthy volunteers (30 men and 18 women, mean age 33 years) were enrolled in a randomized, two-period, two-stage, crossover bioequivalence study of noscapine in two different liquid formulations. Noscapine plasma concentrations following oral administration of noscapine 50 mg were evaluated by a non-compartmental analysis and by a population pharmacokinetic model separately. Compared to the reference formulation, the test formulation exhibited ratios (with 94.12% confidence intervals) of 0.784 (0.662–0.929) and 0.827 (0.762–0.925) for peak plasma concentrations and area under the plasma concentration–time curve, respectively. Significant differences in p values (< 0.01) were both observed when comparing peak plasma concentrations and area under the plasma concentration–time curve between CYP2C9 genotype-predicted phenotypes. A three-compartmental model with zero-order absorption and first-order elimination process best described the plasma data. The introduction of a liver compartment was able to describe the profound first-pass effect of noscapine. Total body weight and the CYP2C9 genotype-predicted phenotype were both identified as significant covariates on apparent clearance, which was estimated as 958 ± 548 L/h for extensive metabolizers (CYP2C9*1/*1 and *1/*9), 531 ± 304 L/h for intermediate metabolizers with an activity score of 1.5 (CYP2C9*1/*2), and 343 ± 197 L/h for poor metabolizers and intermediate metabolizers with an activity score of 1.0 (CYP2C9*1/*3, *2/*3, and*3/*3). The current work is expected to facilitate the future pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic development of noscapine. This study was registered prior to starting at “Deutsches Register Klinischer Studien” under registration no. DRKS00017760.