Inhibitory Effects of Quercetin and Its Main Methyl, Sulfate, and Glucuronic Acid Conjugates on Cytochrome P450 Enzymes, and on OATP, BCRP and MRP2 Transporters

• Published in: Nutrients Vol. 12; no. 8; p. 2306
• Main Authors: Mohos, Violetta, Fliszár-Nyúl, Eszter, Ungvári, Orsolya, Kuffa, Katalin, Needs, Paul W, Kroon, Paul A, Telbisz, Ágnes, Özvegy-Laczka, Csilla, Poór, Miklós
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 31-07-2020; MDPI
• Subjects: ABC transporters; Acids; Adenosine triphosphate; ATP; ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters - antagonists & inhibitors; Biotransformation; Cell Line; Conjugates; CYP2D6 protein; Cytochrome; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System - drug effects; Cytochrome P450; cytochrome P450 enzymes; Cytochromes P450; Dietary supplements; Drug dosages; Enzymes; Flavonoids; Glycosides; Guards; Humans; Investigations; Metabolism; Metabolites; Multidrug Resistance-Associated Proteins - antagonists & inhibitors; OATP transporters; Organic Anion Transporters - antagonists & inhibitors; Organic anion transporting polypeptide; pharmacokinetic interaction; Pharmacokinetics; Pharmacology; Polypeptides; Quercetin; Quercetin - analogs & derivatives; Quercetin - pharmacology; quercetin conjugates; Sulfates; Testosterone; St Louis Missouri; United Kingdom > UK; Hungary; United States > US; pharmacokinetic interaction; OATP transporters; quercetin; quercetin conjugates; ABC transporters; cytochrome P450 enzymes; food drug interaction
• ISSN: 2072-6643; 2072-6643
• DOI: 10.3390/nu12082306

Quercetin is a flavonoid, its glycosides and aglycone are found in significant amounts in several plants and dietary supplements. Because of the high presystemic biotransformation of quercetin, mainly its conjugates appear in circulation. As has been reported in previous studies, quercetin can interact with several proteins of pharmacokinetic importance. However, the interactions of its metabolites with biotransformation enzymes and drug transporters have barely been examined. In this study, the inhibitory effects of quercetin and its most relevant methyl, sulfate, and glucuronide metabolites were tested on cytochrome P450 (CYP) (2C19, 3A4, and 2D6) enzymes as well as on organic anion-transporting polypeptides (OATPs) (OATP1A2, OATP1B1, OATP1B3, and OATP2B1) and ATP (adenosine triphosphate) Binding Cassette (ABC) (BCRP and MRP2) transporters. Quercetin and its metabolites (quercetin-3'-sulfate, quercetin-3-glucuronide, isorhamnetin, and isorhamnetin-3-glucuronide) showed weak inhibitory effects on CYP2C19 and 3A4, while they did not affect CYP2D6 activity. Some of the flavonoids caused weak inhibition of OATP1A2 and MRP2. However, most of the compounds tested proved to be strong inhibitors of OATP1B1, OATP1B3, OATP2B1, and BCRP. Our data demonstrate that not only quercetin but some of its conjugates, can also interact with CYP enzymes and drug transporters. Therefore, high intake of quercetin may interfere with the pharmacokinetics of drugs.