Ginsenoside RC is a new selective UGT1A9 inhibitor in human liver microsomes and recombinant human UGT isoforms

Hyunyoung Lee, Jae Kyung Heo, Ga Hyun Lee, So Young Park, Su Nyeong Jang, Hyun Ji Kim, Mi Jeong Kwon, Im Sook Song, Kwang Hyeon Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ginseng is known to have inhibitory effects on UGT1A9 activity. However, little is known about the inhibitory effects of ginsenosides, the major active compounds in ginseng, on UGT1A9 activity. In vitro investigation of UGT1A9 inhibition by ginsenosides was carried out using human liver microsomes (HLMs). Among 10 ginsenosides, ginsenoside Rc was the strongest inhibitor of UGT1A9-mediated mycophenolic acid glucuronidase activity. Further inhibition kinetic studies using HLMs suggested that ginsenoside Rc competitively and noncompetitively inhibited UGT1A9-mediated propofol and mycophenolic acid glucuronidation activities, with Ki values of 2.83 and 3.31 mM, respectively. Next, to investigate whether the inhibitory effect of ginsenoside Rc is specific to the UGT1A9 isoform, we studied the inhibitory potency of ginsenoside Rc on nine human uridine diphospho-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) activities using recombinant human UGT isoforms. Ginsenoside Rc exhibited a 12.9-fold selectivity (which was similar to niflumic acid at 12.5-fold) for UGT1A9 inhibition. Ginsenoside Rc at 50 μM also inhibited none of the other UGT isoform-specific activities above 12.0%, except for UGT1A9 (>91.5%) in HLMs, indicating that ginsenoside Rc might be used as a selective UGT1A9 inhibitor in reaction phenotyping studies of new chemical entities. Considering lower plasma concentrations (0.01 μM) of ginsenoside Rc in healthy subjects and no induction potential on UGT isoforms, ginsenoside Rc does not cause pharmacokinetic drug interactions with other coadministered drugs metabolized by UGT1A9.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1372-1379
Number of pages8
JournalDrug Metabolism and Disposition
Volume47
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

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