Eye drops of poorly soluble drugs are frequently formulated as suspensions. Bioavailability of suspended drug depends on the retention and dissolution of drug particles in the tear fluid, but these factors are still poorly understood. We investigated seven ocular indomethacin suspensions (experimental suspensions with two particle sizes and three viscosities, one commercial suspension) in physical and biological tests. The median particle size (d(50)) categories of the experimental suspensions were 0.37-1.33 and 3.12-3.50 mu m and their viscosity levels were 1.3, 7.0, and 15 mPa center dot s. Smaller particle size facilitated ocular absorption of indomethacin to the aqueous humor of albino rabbits. In aqueous humor the AUC values of indomethacin suspensions with different particle sizes, but equal viscosity, differed over a 1.5 to 2.3-fold range. Higher viscosity increased ocular absorption 3.4-4.3-fold for the suspensions with similar particle sizes. Overall, the bioavailability range for the suspensions was about 8-fold. Instillation of larger particles resulted in higher tear fluid AUC values of total indomethacin (suspended and dissolved) as compared to application of smaller particles. Despite these tear fluid AUC values of total indomethacin, instillation of the larger particles resulted in smaller AUC levels of indomethacin in the aqueous humor. This suggests that the small particles yielded higher concentrations of dissolved indomethacin in the tear fluid, thereby leading to improved ocular bioavailability. This new conclusion was supported by ocular pharmacokinetic modeling. Both particle size and viscosity have a significant impact on drug concentrations in the tear fluid and ocular drug bioavailability from topical suspensions. Viscosity and particle size are the key players in the complex interplay of drug retention and dissolution in the tear fluid, thereby defining ocular drug absorption and bioequivalence of ocular suspensions.

Ocular drug absorption after eye drop instillation has been widely studied, but partitioning phenomena and spatial drug distribution are poorly understood. We investigated partitioning of seven beta-blocking drugs in corneal epithelium, corneal stroma, including endothelium and conjunctiva, using isolated porcine tissues and cultured human corneal epithelial cells. The chosen beta-blocking drugs had a wide range (-1.76-0.79) of n-octanol/buffer solution distribution coefficients at pH 7.4 (Log D-7.4). In addition, the ocular surface distribution of three beta-blocking drugs was determined by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS) after their simultaneous application in an eye drop to the rabbits in vivo. Studies with isolated porcine corneas revealed that the distribution coefficient (K-p) between the corneal epithelium and donor solution showed a positive relationship and good correlation with Log D-7.4 and about a 50-fold range of K-p values (0.1-5). On the contrary, K-p between corneal stroma and epithelium showed an inverse (negative) relationship and correlation with Log D-7.4 based on a seven-fold range of K-p values. In vitro corneal cell uptake showed a high correlation with the ex vivo corneal epithelium/donor K-p values. Partitioning of the drugs into the porcine conjunctiva also showed a positive relationship with lipophilicity, but the range of K-p values was less than with the corneal epithelium. MALDI-IMS allowed simultaneous detection of three compounds in the cornea, showed data in line with other experiments, and revealed uneven spatial drug distribution in the cornea. Our data indicate the importance of lipophilicity in defining the corneal pharmacokinetics and the K-p values are a useful building block in the kinetic simulation models for topical ocular drug administration.