Dartsch Digestive Tract Model

  • Static and, thus, comprehensible simulation of the physiological conditions of the human gastrointestinal tract
  • Total digestion as well as single digestive steps
  • High variability of digestive conditions possible (e.g. fasting and fed conditions, use of a high fat diet according to FDA is possible)
  • Free of individual variations as present in experimental animals or human volunteers
  • Use in very early stages of development helps to reduce total development periods and costs
  • Examination of beneficial and/or unwanted toxic (side) effects
  • Only a limited amount of sample material is needed (about 1 to 2 g)
  • No ethical and time-consuming limitations as usual for animal or volunteer clinical experiments
  • Quick results within some working days

Main compartments of the Dartsch Digestive Tract Model

  1. digestive-tractMouth -> Synthetic saliva
    Inorganic components: NaCl, NaSCN, KCl, Na2SO4, NaHCO3, KH2PO4, CaCl2
    Organic components: urea, uric acid, mucin from porcine pancreas, alpha-amylase
    pH-value: 5,6
    Extraction time: variable (up to several min at 37 °C)
  2. Stomach -> Synthetic gastric juice
    Inorganic components: NaCl, KCl, KH2PO4, HCI
    Organic components: pepsin from porcine gastric mucosa, mucin from porcine pancreas
    pH-value: 1.8 (fasting) to 6.0 (fed conditions)
    Extraction time: variable (up to 8 h at 37 °C)
  3. Small Intestine -> Synthetic intestinal juice
    Inorganic components: KCl, CaCl2, MgCl2, NaHCO3
    Organic components: trypsin from bovine pancreas, pancreatin from porcine pancreas, porcine bile extract, lipase from porcine pancreas
    pH-value: 5.8 to 7.6
    Extraction time: variable (up to 16 h at 37 °C)
  4. Liver -> primary metabolization (first pass effect)