The safety and efficacy of candidate compounds are critical factors during the development of drugs, and most drugs have been withdrawn from the market owing to severe adverse reactions. Individuals/populations with different genetic backgrounds may show significant differences in drug metabolism and efficacy, which can sometimes manifest as severe adverse drug reactions. With an emphasis on the mechanisms underlying abnormal drug effects caused by genetic mutations, pharmacogenetic studies may enhance the safety and effectiveness of drug use, provide more comprehensive delineations of the scope of usage, and change the fates of drugs withdrawn from the market.

In this study, the effects of 136 naturally occurring products, which have been reported to play important roles in modification of Cytochrome P450 (CYP450) activities, on the uptake of estrone-3-sulfate (E3S), a typical OATP1B1 substrate, were evaluated using human embryonic kidney 293 cells stably expressing OATP1B1. At a concentration of 100 μM, 42 natural products inhibited OATP1B1-mediated [(3)H]E3S uptake by more than 50%, and five of them significantly inhibited OATP1B1-mediated [(3)H]E3S by more than 80% with the following rank order of potency: quercetin > astragaloside IV > icariin > glycyrrhizic acid > ginsenoside Rc. Inhibitory effects of these natural products on OATP1B1 activity were in a concentration-dependent manner. 11 natural compounds were found exhibiting greater than 50% inhibition at 30 μM with IC(50) values ranging from 14.6 ± 3.3 to 28.5 ± 3.0 μM. In conclusion, our data suggest that modification of OATP1B1 transport activity by these natural occurring products may be a mechanism for natural product-drug interactions in humans.

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT THIS SUBJECT• OATP1B1 is a liver-specific expression drug transporter and mediates the uptake of a broad range of compounds into hepatocytes. Modulation the activity of OATP1B1 may alter the pharmacokinetics of its substrate drugs, causing potential drug-drug interactions. As a popular dietary supplement in the United States, quercetin has been shown to interact with some drug transporters and efficiently influences their activity, but the effect of quercetin on OATP1B1 activity is not well known. WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS• Quercetin inhibits the OATP1B1-mediated transport of E3S and pravastatin in vitro, and also has a modest inhibitory influence on the pharmacokinetics of pravastatin in healthy Chinese-Han male volunteers. AIMTo investigate the effect of quercetin on organic anion transporting polypeptide 1B1 (OATP1B1) activities in vitro and on the pharmacokinetics of pravastatin, a typical substrate for OATP1B1 in healthy Chinese-Han male subjects. METHODSUsing human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells stably expressing OATP1B1, we observed the effect of quercetin on OATP1B1-mediated uptake of estrone-3-sulphate (E3S) and pravastatin. The influence of quercetin on the pharmacokinetics of pravastatin was measured in 16 healthy Chinese-Han male volunteers receiving a single dose of pravastatin (40 mg orally) after co-administration of placebo or 500 mg quercetin capsules (once daily orally for 14 days). RESULTSQuercetin competitively inhibited OATP1B1-mediated E3S uptake with a Ki value of 17.9 Ϯ 4.6 mM and also inhibited OATP1B1-mediated pravastatin uptake in a concentration dependent manner (IC50, 15.9 Ϯ 1.4 mM). In healthy Chinese-Han male subjects, quercetin increased the pravastatin area under the plasma concentration -time curve (AUC(0,10 h) and the peak plasma drug concentration (Cmax) to 24% (95% CI 15, 32%, P < 0.001) and 31% (95% CI 20, 42%, P < 0.001), respectively. After administration of quercetin, the elimination half-life (t1/2) of pravastatin was prolonged by 14% (95% CI 4, 24%, P = 0.027), with no change in the time to reach Cmax (tmax). Moreover, quercetin decreased the apparent clearance (CL/F) of pravastatin by 18% (95% CI 75, 89%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONSThese findings suggest that quercetin inhibits the OATP1B1-mediated transport of E3S and pravastatin in vitro and also has a modest inhibitory influence on the pharmacokinetics of pravastatin in healthy Chinese-Han male volunteers. The effects of quercetin on other OATP1B1 substrate drugs deserve further investigation.