Case Study: PhysioCell
More Precise Drug Testing Thanks to Physiological Temperature Control
02/14/2025
How quickly and to what extent a drug dissolves in the stomach significantly influences its effectiveness. This is why dissolution tests are a key method in pharmaceutical research and development. However, actual stomach conditions are more complex than standard tests often account for.
One crucial factor is temperature: When a tablet is taken with a glass of water at room temperature, gastric juices temporarily cool down – an effect that can alter the drug's dissolution rate. The Polish research company Physiolution specializes in simulating such physiological conditions as realistically as possible in laboratory environments.
With PhysioCell, the company has developed an innovative testing system that precisely replicates the upper gastrointestinal tract. The device enables the simulation of stomach movements, gastric emptying kinetics, and dynamic pH control and adjustment with gaseous and liquid titrants.
Precise Temperature Control for Reliable Gastrointestinal Simulation
In a recent project led by Marcela Staniszewska, PhysioCell was used to study the dissolution of a soft gelatin capsule under realistic fasting conditions.
The study incorporated advanced methodologies such as Design of Experiment (DoE) and Machine Learning. One of the key challenges was accurately replicating the temperature dynamics of the stomach.
This is where the JULABO unit played a crucial role: A JULABO refrigerated circulator was used to ensure precise and stable heating of the simulated gastric fluid. Note that our customer combined an older F10 cooling machine with an MV heating circulator from a younger generation, demonstrating the versatility and flexibility of our modular system.
Thanks to JULABO's reliable temperature control, it was ensured that the experiments were conducted under consistent and reproducible conditions – a critical factor for the validity of the test results.
Physiolution specializes in developing innovative in-vitro models and simulation technologies to replicate complex physiological conditions for pharmaceutical research, particularly in drug dissolution and gastrointestinal dynamics.
