Active efflux transport of glucuronides out of cells is a critical process in elimination of drugs and food-derived compounds. Wushanicaritin, a natural polyphenol from Epimedium species, has shown many biological activities. However, the transporters responsible for excretion of wushanicaritin glucuronides still remain undefined. Herein, chemical inhibitors (Ko143, MK571, dipyridamole and leukotriene C4) and single stable knocked-down efflux transporters (BCRP, MRP1, MRP3 and MRP4) were used to determine the contributions of efflux transporters to glucuronide efflux and cellular glucuronidation in UGT1A1-overexpressing HeLa cells (HeLa1A1). Knock-down of transporters was performed by stable transfection of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) using lentiviral vectors. The HeLa1A1 cell lysate catalyzed wushanicaritin glucuronidation, generating wushanicaritin-3-O-glucuronide and wushanicaritin-7-O-glucuronide. Ko143 (a dual inhibitor of BCRP, 5-20 μM) caused a marked decrease in excretion rate (maximal 53.4%) and increase of intracellular glucuronides (maximal 86.0%), while MK-571 (an inhibitor of MRPs, 5-20 μM) resulted in a significant reduction in excretion rate (maximal 64.6%) and rise of intracellular glucuronides (maximal 98.0%). By contrast, dipyridamole and leukotriene C4 showed no inhibitory effects on glucuronide excretion. Furthermore, shRNA-mediated silencing of a target transporter led to a marked reduction in the excretion rate of wushanicaritin glucuronides (maximal 33.8% for BCRP; 25.9% for MRP1; 26.7% for MRP3; 39.3% for MRP4). Transporter silencing also led to substantial decreases in efflux clearance (maximal 61.5% for BCRP; 48.7% for MRP1; 35.1% for MRP3; 63.1% for MRP4). In conclusion, chemical inhibition and gene silencing results suggested that BCRP, MRP1, MRP3 and MRP4 were significant contributors to excretion of wushanicaritin glucuronides.

Corylin, an phenolic compound from Psoralea corylifolia, has been reported with various pharmacological properties but has poor bioavailability due to massive metabolism. In this study, twelve metabolites of corylin mainly involving in oxidation, hydration, glucuronidation and sulfation were detected in mice. Furthermore, the oxidation and hydration of corylin (M4) in human liver microsomes (HLM) and human intestine microsomes (HIM) were both efficient with high CL (intrinsic clearance) values of 24.29 and 42.85 μL/min/mg, respectively. CYP1A1, 1B1 and 2C19 contributed most for M4 with the CL values of 26.63, 33.09 and 132.41 μL/min/mg, respectively. Besides, M4 was strongly correlated with phenacetin-N-deacetylation (r = 0.885, p = 0.0001) and tolbutamide-4-oxidation (r = 0.727, p = 0.001) in twelve individual HLMs, respectively. In addition, corylin was efficiently glucuronidated (M7) in HLM (125.33 μL/min/mg) and in HIM (108.74 μL/min/mg). UGT1A1 contributed the most for M7 with the CL value of 122.32 μL/min/mg. Meanwhile, M7 was significantly correlated with β-estradiol-3-O-glucuronidation (r = 0.742, p = 0.006) in twelve individual HLMs. Moreover, the metabolism of corylin showed marked species differences. Taken together, corylin was subjected to massive first-pass metabolism in liver and intestine, while CYP1A1, 1B1, 2C19 and UGT1A1 were the main contributors. Finally, the proposed metabolic pathway of corylin involed CYP and UGT isoforms were summarized, which could help to understand the metabolic fate of corylin in vivo.

1. Icaritin is a natural flavonoid with anti-osteoporosis activity. This study aimed to characterize icaritin glucuronidation by pooled human liver microsomes (HLM) and pooled human intestine microsomes (HIM), and to determine the contribution of individual UDP-glucuronosyltrans-ferase (UGT) enzyme to icaritin glucuronidation. 2. Glucuronidation rates were determined by incubating icaritin with uridine diphosphate glucuronic acid (UDPGA)-supplemented microsomes. Kinetic parameters were derived by appropriate model fitting. Relative activity factors and activity correlation analysis were performed to identify main UGT isoforms. 3. UGT1A3, 1A7, 1A8, 1A9 and 2B7 were mainly responsible for catalyzing the formation of two glucuronides (G1 and G2). Icaritin 3-O-glucuronidation (G1) was significantly correlated with Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) glucuronidation (r = 0.787, p = 0.002), propofol glucuronidation (r = 0.661, p = 0.019) and Zidovudine (AZT) glucuronidation (r = 0.805, p = 0.002). Similarly, icaritin 7-O-glucuronidation (G2) was also correlated with CDCA glucuronidation (r = 0.640, p = 0.025), propofol glucuronidation (r = 0.592, p = 0.043) and AZT glucuronidation (r = 0.661, p = 0.019). In addition, UGT1A3, 1A9 and 2B7 contributed 37.5, 33.8 and 21.3% for G1 in pooled HLM, respectively. Also, UGT1A3, 1A9 and 2B7 contributed 34.3, 20.0 and 8.6% for G2 in pooled HLM, respectively. 4. Icaritin was subjected to significant glucuronidation, wherein UGT1A3, 1A7, 1A8, 1A9 and 2B7 were main contributing enzymes.

Wushanicaritin, a natural polyphenol compound, exerts many biological activities. This study aimed to characterize wushanicaritin glucuronidation by pooled human liver microsomes (HLM), human intestine microsomes and individual uridine diphosphate-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzyme. Glucuronidation rates were determined by incubating wushanicaritin with uridine diphosphoglucuronic acid-supplemented microsomes. Kinetic parameters were derived by appropriate model fitting. Reaction phenotyping, the relative activity factor (RAF) and activity correlation analysis were performed to identify the main UGT isoforms. Wushanicaritin glucuronidation in HLM was efficient with a high CLint (intrinsic clearance) value of 1.25 and 0.69 mL/min/mg for G1 and G2, respectively. UGT1A1 and 1A7 showed the highest activities with the intrinsic clearance (CLint) values of 1.16 and 0.38 mL/min/mg for G1 and G2, respectively. In addition, G1 was significantly correlated with β-estradiol glucuronidation (r = 0.847; p = 0.0005), while G2 was also correlated with chenodeoxycholic acid glucuronidation (r = 0.638, p = 0.026) in a bank of individual HLMs (n = 12). Based on the RAF approach, UGT1A1 contributed 51.2% for G1, and UGT1A3 contributed 26.0% for G2 in HLM. Moreover, glucuronidation of wushanicaritin by liver microsomes showed marked species difference. Taken together, UGT1A1, 1A3, 1A7, 1A8, 1A9 and 2B7 were identified as the main UGT contributors responsible for wushanicaritin glucuronidation.