Sex-specific systemic drug exposure enhancement through excipient-enabled 3D printed medications

Alvaro Goyanes – Lecturer, Departamento de Farmacología, Farmacia y Tecnología Farmacéutica, I+D Farma Group (GI-1645), Facultad de Farmacia, iMATUS and Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela (IDIS), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain; Yang Mai – Associate Professor, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Shenzen), Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzen 518107, China; Abdul W. Basit – Professor, UCL School of Pharmacy, University College London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom

Introduction: Pharmaceutical excipients are increasingly recognised as functional components that modulate biological pathways, including intestinal efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp) [1]. Polyethylene glycols (PEGs) have been shown to enhance the oral bioavailability of P-gp substrate drugs in a sex-dependent manner in both humans and Wistar rats [2, 3]. This study investigated whether incorporating PEG 2000 into 3D printed tablets (printlets) could amplify systemic exposure of silodosin, a P-gp substrate drug used for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and thereby harness these sex-specific pharmacokinetic (PK) effects.