RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 3-Monoglucuronyl-Glycyrrhretinic Acid Is a Substrate of Organic Anion Transporters Expressed in Tubular Epithelial Cells and Plays Important Roles in Licorice-Induced Pseudoaldosteronism by Inhibiting 11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase 2
JF Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
JO J Pharmacol Exp Ther
FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
SP 297
OP 304
DO 10.1124/jpet.111.190009
VO 342
IS 2
A1 Makino, Toshiaki
A1 Okajima, Kyoko
A1 Uebayashi, Rie
A1 Ohtake, Nobuhiro
A1 Inoue, Katsuhisa
A1 Mizukami, Hajime
YR 2012
UL http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/342/2/297.abstract
AB Licorice (glycyrrhiza root) has been used as a herbal medicine worldwide with its main active constituent being glycyrrhizin (GL). Licorice sometimes causes adverse effects such as inducing pseudoaldosteronism by inhibiting type 2 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11β-HSD2) caused by glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), a major metabolite of GL. In this study we compared the inhibitory effects of GA, GL, and 3-monoglucuronyl-glycyrrhetinic acid (3MGA), another metabolite of GL, on 11β-HSD2 activity by using microsomes and rat kidney tissue slices. GA, 3MGA, and GL inhibited 11β-HSD2 in rat kidney microsomes, with IC50 values of 0.32, 0.26, and 2.2 μM, respectively. However, the inhibitory activity of these compounds was reduced markedly, in the slices, in a medium containing 5% bovine serum albumin. Assays using human embryonic kidney 293 cells with transient transformation in transporter genes showed that 3MGA is a substrate of human organic anion transporter (OAT) 1, human OAT3, and human organic anion-transporting peptide 4C1, whereas GA is not. When GA (100 mg/kg/day) was administered orally for 16 days to Eisai hyperbilirubinemic rats, plasma concentrations and urinary excretion of 3MGA were significantly higher, whereas the activity of 11β-HSD2 in kidney microsomes was significantly lower compared with Sprague Dawley rats. These results suggest that 3MGA is actively transported into tubules through OATs, resulting in the inhibition of 11β-HSD2. Because the plasma level of 3MGA depends on the function of hepatic transporters, monitoring 3MGA levels in plasma or urine may be useful for preventing pseudoaldosteronism when licorice or GL is prescribed to patients.