Daidzein (DAN) is an isoflavone, and it is often found
in its natural
form in soybean and food supplements. DAN has poor bioavailability
owing to its extremely low water solubility and first-pass metabolism.
Herein, we hypothesized that a bioactivatable natural amino acid-bearing
carbamate prodrug strategy could increase the water solubility and
metabolic stability of DAN. To test our hypothesis, nine amino acid
prodrugs of DAN were designed and synthesized. Compared with DAN,
the optimal prodrug (daidzein-4′-O-CO-N-isoleucine, D-4′-I) demonstrated enhanced water
solubility and improved phase II metabolic stability and activation
to DAN in plasma. In addition, unlike the passive transport of DAN,
D-4′-I maintained high permeability via organic anion-transporting
polypeptide 2B1 (OATP2B1)-mediated transport. Importantly, D-4′-I
increased the oral bioavailability by 15.5-fold, reduced the gender
difference, and extended the linear absorption capacity in the pharmacokinetics
of DAN in rats. Furthermore, D-4′-I exhibited dose-dependent
protection against liver injury. Thus, the natural amino acid-bearing
carbamate prodrug strategy shows potential in increasing water solubility
and improving phase II metabolic stability to enhance the oral bioavailability
of DAN.