Interactions of drug-metabolizing enzymes with the Chinese herb Psoraleae Fructus

Psoraleae Fructus(the dried fruits of Psoralea corylifolia), one of the most frequently used Chinese herbs in Asian countries, has a variety of biological activities. In clinical settings, Psoraleae Fructus or Psoraleae Fructus-related herbal medicines frequently have been used in combination with a number of therapeutic drugs for the treatment of various human diseases, such as leukoderma, rheumatism and dysentery. The use of Psoraleae Fructus in combination with drugs has aroused concern of the potential risks of herb-drug interactions(HDI) or herb-endobiotic interactions(HEI). This article reviews the interactions between human drug-metabolizing enzymes and the constituents of Psoraleae Fructus;the major constituents in Psoraleae Fructus, along with their chemical structures and metabolic pathways are summarized, and the inhibitory and inductive effects of the constituents in Psoraleae Fructus on human drug-metabolizing enzymes(DMEs), including target enzyme(s), its modulatory potency, and mechanisms of action are presented. Collectively, this review summarizes current knowledge of the interactions between the Chinese herb Psoraleae Fructus and therapeutic drugs in an effort to facilitate its rational use in clinical settings, and especially to avoid the potential risks of HDI or HEI through human DMEs.

Landscape of Hepatobiliary Adverse Drug Reactions Related to Preparations Containing Psoraleae Fructus and Its Application in Pharmacovigilance

Objective To analyze clinical feature and information of medication to explore the risk signals of preparations containing Psoraleae Fructus(BGZP)related with hepatobiliary adverse drug reactions(ADR),in order to reinforce pharmacovigilance.Methods A retrospective study was conducted based on hepatobiliary ADR related with BGZP from the China Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring System in years from January 2012 to December 2016.Serious and general ADRs were analyzed and assessed.Results There were 355 cases of hepatobiliary ADR related to BGZP.Both the amount of cases and the proportion of serious ADR showed an increasing growth by years(P<0.05).It was found that 10.43%of 355 cases may be involved with irrational drug use,including overdose,repeated medication,and combination of multiple drugs.There were 190 cases which used BGZP(non-combination),and they were mainly for common in diseases caused by abnormal immune activation(accounting for 40.53%of the total cases).Especially at the age group with the most cases with age of 41–50 years,the cases associated with immunological diseases of female were obviously more than that of male(P<0.05).The latency of hepatobiliary ADR related to BGZP ranged from 1 to 386 days,and the median latency was 27.5 days,along with the range of cumulative dose(0.45–520.02 g)as well as the daily dose(0.09–2.64 g/d)after the conversion.Conclusions Cases of hepatobiliary ADR related to BGZP showed significant individual differences,and there was no correlation between drug usage duration and dosage and the occurrence of hepatobiliary ADR.It may be similar with idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury,and recommended that BGZP should be used with more caution under monitoring liver function,especially in female patients with immunological diseases.

A systematic review on the safety of Psoraleae Fructus:potential risks,toxic characteristics,underlying mechanisms and detoxification methods

Psoraleae Fructus(PF)is an important traditional herbal medicine with a long history of clinical application.It is widely used to treat various diseases,such as osteoporosis,leucoderma and diarrhea.As a traditional nontoxic herb,it has aroused worldwide concern about the potential risks due to increasing adverse reaction events.This article reviews the botany,ancient records of medical uses,adverse reactions,toxicological research advance and detoxification methods of PF.According to clinical studies,liver injury is the most predominant in PF-related adverse reactions.The underlying mechanisms include bile acid metabolism and transport disorders,oxidative stress,mitochondrial damage,inhibition of liver cell regeneration and inflammatory reactions.Furthermore,the potential toxins of PF are summarized.Traditional methods of processing and compatibility will provide reference for reducing the toxicity of PF,which requires further research.In sum,this work systematically summarizes the reserach progress on the safety of PF,which will provide comprehensive insights into the toxicity of PF and facilitate its safe use and future development.

Separation,identification,and quantification of active constituents in Fructus Psoraleae by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV,ion trap mass spectrometry,and electrochemical detection

The qualitative and quantitative analysis of active constituents in Fructus Psoraleae is presented by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with different detections.Extracts of Fructus Psoraleae were examined by HPLC with ion trap mass spectrometry (IT-MS) and 18 major compounds of coumarins,benzofuran glycosides,flavonoids,and meroterpene were identified.The determination of four major constituents including bavachin,isobavachalcone,bavachinin,and bakuchiol was accomplished by HPLC with UV,MS,and electrochemical detection (ECD).These methods were evaluated for a number of validation characteristics (repeatability,LOD,calibration range,and recovery).ECD obtained a high sensitivity for analysis of the four components;MS provided a high selectivity and sensitivity for determination of bavachin,isobavachalcone,and bavachinin in negative-ion mode.After optimization of the methods,separation,identification.and quantification of the four components in Fructus Psoraleae were comprehensively tested by HPLC with UV,MS,and ECD.

Chiral separation of bavachinin in Fructus Psoraleae and rat plasma by liquid chromatography using permethylated-b-CD as a chiral selector

A simple, sensitive and selective method of high-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） has been successfully developed for separation of bavachinin enantiomers in Fructus Psoraleae and rat plasma. The separation and detection conditions of HPLC were optimized. Chiral bavachinin were separated with the mobile phase of methanol and water （70：30, v/v） at a flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The linear ranges were in the range of 20-1000 μg/mL. The detection limits were tested as 4 ng/mL and 6 ng/mL for （＋）-bavachinin and （-）-bavachinin, respectively. The method has been applied to analyze chiral bavachinin in rat plasma. HPLC-MS method was used to test the accuracy.

Effect of Fructus Psoraleae on motility of gallbladder isolated smooth muscle strips from guinea pigs

AIM： To observe the effect of Fructus Psoraleae on motility of isolated gallbladder muscle strips of guinea pigs and its mechanism. METHODS： Guinea pigs were hit to lose consciousness and the whole gallbladder was removed quickly. Two or three smooth muscle strips （8 mm×3mm） were cut along a longitudinal direction. The mucosa was gently removed. Every longitudinal muscle strip was suspended in a tissue chamber which was continuously perfused with 5 mL Krebs solution （37℃）, pH 7.4, and aerated with 950 mL/L 02 and 50 mL/L CO2. The isometric response was recorded with an ink-writing recorder. After 2 h equilibration under i g-load, 50 μL Fructus Psoraleae （10, 20, 70, 200, 700, 1000 g/L） was added cumulatively into the tissue chamber in turn every 2 rain to observe their effects on gallbladder muscle strips （cumulating final concentration of Fructus Psoraleae was 0.1, 0.3, 1.0, 3.0, 10.0, 20.0 g/L）. The antagonists, including 4-DAMP, benzhydramine, hexamethonium, phentolamine, verapamil and idomethine were given 2 min before Fructus Psoraleae respectively to investigate the mechanisms involved. RESULTS： Fructus Psoraleae dose-dependently increased the resting tension （r=0.992, P〈0.001）, decreased the mean contractile amplitude （r=0.970, P〈0.001） and meanwhile increased the contractile frequency of the gallbladder muscle strip in vitro （r=0.965, P〈0.001）. The exciting action of Fructus Psoraleae on the resting tension could be partially blocked by 4-DAMP （the resting tension decreased from 1.37 ± 0.41 to 0.70 ± 0.35, P〈0.001）, benzhydramine （from 1.37 ±0.41 to 0.45±0.38, P〈0.001）, hexamethonium （from 1.37 ± 0.41 to 0.94 ± 0.23, P〈0.05）, phentolamine （ from 1.37±0.41 to 0.89±0.22, P〈0.01） and verapamil （from 1.37±0.41 to 0.94±0.26, P〈0.05）. But the above antagonists had no significant effect on the action of Fructus Psoraleae-induced mean contractile amplitude （P〉0.05）. Moreover, the increase of the contractile frequency due to Fructus Psoraleae was inhibited by 4-DAMP （decreased from 8.3 ± 1.2 to 6.8 ± 0.5, P 〈 0.01） and hexamethonium （from 8.3 ±1.2 to 7.0 ± 0.9, P 〈 0.05）. Idomethine had no significant effect on the Fructus Psoraleae- induced responses （P〉 0.05）. CONCLUSION： Fructus Psoraleae enhances the motility of isolated gallbladder muscle strips from guinea pigs, in a dose-dependent manner. The effect of Fructus Psoraleae is partly related to M3, N receptor, α receptor, H1 receptor, Ca^2＋ channel, but not related to prostaglandin.

Pancreatic lipase inhibitory constituents from Fructus Psoraleae

Pancreatic lipase(PL), a crucial enzyme in the digestive system of mammals, has been proven as a therapeutic target to prevent and treat obesity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and characterize the PL inhibition activities of the major constituents from Fructus Psoraleae(FP), one of the most frequently used Chinese herbs with lipid-lowering activity. To this end, a total of eleven major constituents isolated from Fructus Psoraleae have been obtained and their inhibition potentials against PL have been assayed by a fluorescence-based assay. Among all tested compounds, isobavachalcone, bavachalcone and corylifol A displayed strong inhibition on PL(IC50 < 10 μmol·L-1). Inhibition kinetic analyses demonstrated that isobavachalcone, bavachalcone and corylifol A acted as mixed inhibitors against PL-mediated 4-methylumbelliferyl oleate(4-MUO) hydrolysis, with the Ki values of 1.61, 3.77 and 10.16μmol·L-1, respectively. Furthermore, docking simulations indicated that two chalcones(isobavachalcone and bavachalcone) could interact with the key residues located in the catalytic cavity of PL via hydrogen binding and hydrophobic interactions. Collectively, these finding provided solid evidence to support that Fructus Psoraleae contained bioactive compounds with lipid-lowering effects via targeting PL, and also suggested that the chalcones in Fructus Psoraleae could be used as ideal leading compounds to develop novel PL inhibitors.

Bavachin enhances NLRP3 inflammasome activation induced by ATP or nigericin and causes idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity

Psoraleae Fructus(PF)is a well-known traditional herbal medicine in China,and it is widely used for osteoporosis,vitiligo,and other diseases in clinical settings.However,liver injury caused by PF and its preparations has been frequently reported in recent years.Our previous studies have demonstrated that PF could cause idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury(IDILI),but the mechanism underlying its hepatotoxicity remains unclear.This paper reports that bavachin isolated from PF enhances the specific stimuli-induced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and leads to hepatotoxicity.Bavachin boosts the secretion of IL-ip and caspase-1 caused by ATP or nigericin but not those induced by poly(I:C),monosodium urate crystal,or intracellular lipopolysaccharide.Bavachin does not affect AIM2 or NLRC4 inflammasome activation.Mechanistically,bavachin specifically increases the production of nigericin-induced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species among the most important upstream events in the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome.Bavachin increases the levels of aspartate transaminase and alanine aminotransferase in serum and hepatocyte injury accompanied by the secretion of IL-ip via a mouse model of lipopolysaccharide-mediated susceptibility to IDILI.These results suggest that bavachin specifically enhances the ATP-or nigericin-induced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome.Bavachin also potentially contributes to PF-induced idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity.Moreover,bavachin and PF should be evaded among patients with diseases linked to the ATP-or nigericin-mediated activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome,which may be a dangerous factor for liver injury.