The use of cell cultures provides a method to predict drug permeability by utilizing cell monolayers in a two-chamber diffusion system to simulate the passage of drugs from the intestinal lumen into the blood. The cell model is simple and easy to use and avoids the usage of animal models for pharmacological and toxicological studies, so it is cost-effective and can produce reliable and reproducible results for understanding and evaluating the permeability characteristics of the potential lead drug candidates.
Many cell monolayer models have been developed to mimic human intestinal epithelium and are gaining in popularity.