Inhibition of bile salt export pump (BSEP) causes hepatic accumulation of toxic bile acid (BA), leading to hepatocyte death. We reported a sandwich-cultured hepatocyte (SCH)-based model that can estimate potential cholestatic compounds by assessing their ability to induce hepatotoxicity in combination with a titrated amount of human 12 BA species. However, there is little information about the specific BAs responsible for hepatotoxicity, when BSEP is inhibited. This study measured the accumulation of each BA in rat SCHs in the presence of 10 μM cyclosporine A (CsA), which only inhibits BSEP, and 50 μM CsA, which further inhibits basolateral BA efflux transporters. The accumulation of all BAs (not significant for deoxycholic acid [DCA]) was observed in the presence of 10 μM CsA. In particular, 3 BAs (chenodeoxycholic acid [CDCA], DCA, and glyco-DCA [GDCA]) showed increased toxicity in the presence of 10 μM CsA, whereas the other BAs did not. In addition to these BAs, taurolithocholic acid, glyco-CDCA, and glycocholic acid showed increased toxicity in the presence of 50 μM CsA, but additional accumulation of these BAs could not be observed. These results indicate the inhibiting BSEP results in the accumulation of CDCA, GDCA, and partially DCA, thereby resulting in hepatotoxicity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.