Planta Med 2007; 73(5): 444-450
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-967178
Original Paper
Pharmacology
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Effects of Schisandra Lignans on P-Glycoprotein-Mediated Drug Efflux in Human Intestinal Caco-2 Cells

Hye Hyun Yoo1 , Mijin Lee1 , Min Woo Lee1 , Sun Young Lim1 , Jongheon Shin2 , Dong-Hyun Kim1
  • 1Bioanalysis and Biotransformation Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Korea
  • 2Natural Products Research Institute, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
Further Information

Publication History

Received: September 12, 2006 Revised: February 20, 2007

Accepted: March 12, 2007

Publication Date:
16 April 2007 (online)

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Abstract

Schisandra fruits (Schisandraceae) are often used in traditional medicine and can be taken concomitantly with conventional medicine. In this study, the effects of dibenzocyclooctadiene lignans from Schizandra chinensis on P-gp-mediated efflux were examined to investigate a possible interaction with P-gp substrates. The cellular accumulation of rhodamine-123 in Caco-2 cells was measured with 12 Schisandra lignans. Most compounds resulted in slight or moderate increases of rhodamin-123 cellular uptake, indicating their P-gp inhibitory activity. Among them, deoxyschizandrin exhibited the most potent effect on the accumulation of rhodamine-123. Subsequently, bidirectional transports of digoxin and rhodamine-123 in Caco-2 cells were determined with deoxyschizandrin, the most active compound for the rhodamine-123 assay. In the bidirectional transport study, apical-to-basal (A-to-B) transports of digoxin and rhodamine-123 were increased, whereas basal-to-apical (B-to-A) transports were decreased by deoxyschizandrin in concentration- and time-dependent manners. At 50 μM of deoxyschizandrin, the transport ratios (B-A/A-B) for digoxin and rhodamine-123 were 2.2 and 2.1 compared with the control ratios of 15.2 and 12.2, respectively. These results demonstrated that deoxyschizandrin effectively inhibited the P-gp-mediated efflux in Caco-2 cells, suggesting they could potentially increase the absorption of drugs that can act as a P-gp substrate.