Research Information System
DRUG METABOLISM AND DISPOSITION, vol.46, no.5, pp.552-560, 2018 (SCI-Expanded)
Green tea (Camellia sinensis) is a popular beverage worldwide, raising concern for adverse interactions when co-consumed with conventional drugs. Like many botanical natural products, green tea contains numerous polyphenolic constituents that undergo extensive glucuronidation. As such, the UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), particularly intestinal UGTs, represent potential first-pass targets for green tea-drug interactions. Candidate intestinal UGT inhibitors were identified using a biochemometrics approach, which combines bioassay and chemometric data. Extracts and fractions prepared from four widely consumed teas were screened (20-180 mu g/ml) as inhibitors of UGT activity (4-methylumbelliferone glucuronidation) in human intestinal microsomes; all demonstrated concentration-dependent inhibition. A biochemometrics-identified fraction rich in UGT inhibitors from a representative tea was purified further and subjected to second-stage biochemometric analysis. Five catechins were identified as major constituents in the bioactive subfractions and prioritized for further evaluation. Of these catechins, (-)-epicatechin gallate and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate showed concentration-dependent inhibition, with IC50 values (105 and 59 mu M, respectively) near or below concentrations measured in a cup (240 ml) of tea (66 and 240 mu M, respectively). Using the clinical intestinal UGT substrate raloxifene, the K-i values were similar to 1.0 and 2.0 mu M, respectively. Using estimated intestinal lumen and enterocyte inhibitor concentrations, a mechanistic static model predicted green tea to increase the raloxifene plasma area under the curve up to 6.1-and 1.3-fold, respectively. Application of this novel approach, which combines biochemometrics with in vitro-in vivo extrapolation, to other natural product-drug combinations will refine these procedures, informing the need for further evaluation via dynamic modeling and clinical testing.