Current Drug Metabolism - Volume 14, Issue 10, 2013

Silybin and its congeners belong to a group of flavonolignans with strong biological activities. These compounds are potentially applicable in human medicine, e. g. due to their cytoprotective activity. As a part of herbal preparations available on the open market, they face the risk of potential negative drug-drug interactions. This review aims to evaluate current knowledge on the metabolism of these compounds by biotransformation enzymes, interactions with other drugs, their pharmacokinetics, and bioavailability. While silybin and its derivatives interact with cytochrome P450s, only metabolism of silybin by cytochrome P450 2C8 poses a risk of adverse effects. The main biotransformation route of silybin and derivatives was identified as conjugation, which is stereospecific in case of silybin. Studies of the metabolism, pharmacokinetics, potentional drug – drug interactions and increasing bioavailability of these flavonolignans play an important facet of possible therapeutical use of these compounds. The goal of our review is to aid future developments in the area of silybin research.

The liver is a vital organ in vertebrates that can be subject to disease, among others due to exposure to toxic xenobiotic compounds. A group of transcription factors named ligand activated nuclear receptors (LANR) influence and regulate important liver functions, and can be activated by many xenobiotic compounds, which thereby can cause hepatotoxicity. Systematic analysis of the gene pathways regulated by LANR using modern ‘omics technologies is important for investigating modes-of-action of hepatotoxicants. So far, these pathways are not publicly available in a format that allows these studies. We used PathVisio to build liver-specific LANR pathways, both for rats and humans. Since many LANR pathways are linked to each other, we also merged them into a meta-pathway. The pathways are in a GPML-format that enables pathway statistics and visualisations, and will be made available to the public through WikiPathways. We demonstrate the performance of these novel pathways in evaluating transcriptomic studies from the Japanese toxicogenomics project database (Open TG-GATEs). We show that the new pathways can be used to accurately analyse and visualize the effects of prototypical hepatotoxicants in important liver processes, and thus to evaluate the possible mode-of-actions of hepatotoxic xenobiotic compounds by assessing which LANRs are possible targets.

Although arsenic is known to cause cancers of lung, skin and kidney, arsenic trioxide (As2O3) has been recently recognized as one of the most effective novel anticancer agent for the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). These paradoxical effects of arsenic may be dose-dependent, associated with its distinctive metabolism, or correlated with its direct or indirect effects on different cellular pathways which may result in altered cellular functions. The basic mechanism through which As2O3 induces molecular remission in APL patients include direct targeting of PML and retinoic acid receptor alpha fusion protein (PML-RARα) by arsenic resulting in oncoprotein degradation leading to partial differentiation. Many in vitro studies have also indicated that the anticancer properties of As2O3 against non-APL blood cancers predominantly occur through induction of apoptotic pathway. Especially, release of cytochrome c or activation of the caspase cascades and apoptosis-related proteins by arsenic is thought to occur by directly targeting mitochondria. The mechanisms and the selective target sites that have been usually associated with the cytotoxic effects of arsenicals are discussed here with reference to their contribution towards the anticancer properties of arsenic. In this review we have particularly explained the in vivo or in vitro arsenic toxicity based on arsenic metabolic pathway and its different metabolites. These multiple effects and different selective target sites for arsenic and its metabolites emphasize the need for better understanding of paradoxical effects of arsenic which may provide the appropriate use of this agent in the treatment of various malignancies.

Enrofloxacin is a fluorquinolone exclusively developed for use in veterinary medicine (1980). The kinetics of enrofloxacin are characterized, in general terms, by high bioavailability in most species and rapid absorption after IM, SC or oral administration. However, several studies reported that enrofloxacin showed low bioavailability after oral administration in ruminants. This drug has a broad distribution in the organism, excellent tissue penetration and long serum half-life. Also, enrofloxacin is characterized by a low host toxicity, a broad antibacterial spectrum and high bactericidal activity against major pathogenic bacteria (both Gram-positive and Gramnegative), and intracellular organisms found in diseased animals. The kinetics vary according to the route of administration, formulation, animal species, age, body condition, and physiological status, all of which contribute to differences in drug efficacy. The pharmacokinetic properties of drugs are closely related to their pharmacological efficiency, so it is important to know their behavior in each species that is used. This article reviews the pharmacokinetics of enrofloxacin in several domestic animal species.

Pregnane X receptor (PXR) is a member of the nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors and is activated by a huge variety of endobiotics and xenobiotics, including many clinical drugs. PXR plays key roles not only as a xenosensor in the regulation of both major phase I and II drug metabolism and transporters but also as a physiological sensor in the modulation of bile acid and cholesterol metabolism, glucose and lipid metabolism, and bone and endocrine homeostasis. Post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation have been shown to modulate the activity of many NRs, including PXR, and constitute an important mechanism for crosstalk between signaling pathways and regulation of genes involved in both xenobiotic and endobiotic metabolism. In addition, microRNAs have recently been shown to constitute another level of PXR activity regulation. The objective of this review is to comprehensively summarize current understanding of post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications of PXR in regulation of xenobiotic-metabolizing cytochrome P450 (CYP) genes, mainly in hepatic tissue. We also discuss the importance of PXR in crosstalk with cell signaling pathways, which at the level of transcription modify expression of genes associated with some physiological and pathological stages in the organs. Finally, we indicate that these PXR modifications may have important impacts on CYP-mediated biotransformation of some clinically used drugs.

Diabetes is a major health problem worldwide, and metformin, a traditional oral anti-hyperglycemic drug, is now believed to be the most widely prescribed antidiabetic drug. Metformin acts primarily by inhibiting hepatic glucose production and improving insulin sensitivity. Metformin is absorbed predominately by the small intestine and excreted in an unaltered form in the urine. The pharmacokinetics of metformin is primarily determined by membrane transporters, including the plasma membrane monoamine transporter (PMAT), the organic cation transporters (OCTs), the multidrug and toxin extrusion (MATE) transporters, and the critical protein kinase AMPactivated protein kinase (AMPK). PMAT may play a role in the uptake of metformin from the gastrointestinal tract, while OCTs mediate the intestinal absorption, hepatic uptake, and renal excretion of metformin. MATEs are believed to contribute to the hepatic and renal excretion of the drug. The pharmacologic effects of metformin are primarily exerted in the liver, at least partly via the activation of AMPK and the subsequent inhibition of gluconeogenesis. A considerable amount of pharmacogenetic research has demonstrated that genetic variation is one of the major factors affecting metformin response. Moreover, it has become increasingly clear that membrane transporters are important determinants of the pharmacokinetics of metformin. In this review, we will discuss the genetic variants of major transporters that purportedly determine the pharmacokinetics of metformin in terms of drug bioavailability, distribution, and excretion, such as PMAT, OCTs, and MATEs. Understanding how genetic variation affects metformin response will help promote more effective use of the drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D).

In this review we aim to present current knowledge on biotransformation of flavonoids from hop cones with respect to type of product, catalyst and conversion. Subsequently, a comparative analysis of biological activity of prenylated hop flavonoids and their biotransformation products has been performed in order to indicate these research efforts that have good potential for application in pharmaceutical industry. There is increasing evidence that the products of biotransformation of hop prenylflavonoids, which have been little studied until recently, can be used as drugs or drug ingredients and also as standards of human drug metabolites. They can also serve as an inspiration for the design and chemical synthesis of new derivatives with higher or different biological activity. Nevertheless, much additional work, among others on determining the mechanism of action in in vivo systems, is needed to open up the way to biomedical application of these compounds.