In vitro inhibitory effects of phellodendrine on human liver cytochrome P450 enzymes

1. Phellodendrine possesses numerous pharmacological activities. However, whether phellodendrine affects the activity of human liver cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes remains unclear.2. In this study, the inhibitory effects of phellodendrine on eight human liver CYP isoforms (i.e. 1A2, 3A4, 2A6, 2E1, 2D6, 2C9, 2C19 and 2C8) were investigated in vitro using human liver microsomes (HLMs).3. The results showed that phellodendrine inhibited the activity of CYP1A2, 3A4 and 2C9, with IC50 values of 20.56, 14.98 and 16.30 μM, respectively, but that other CYP isoforms were not affected. Enzyme kinetic studies showed that phellodendrine was not only a non-competitive inhibitor of CYP3A4, but also a competitive inhibitor of CYP1A2 and 2C9, with Ki values of 7.15, 10.52 and 7.98 μM, respectively. In addition, phellodendrine is a time-dependent inhibitor for CYP3A4 with Kinact/KI value of 0.046/11.57 μM−1 min−1.4. The in vitro studies of phellodendrine with CYP isoforms indicate that phellodendrine could inhibit the activities of CYP1A2, 3A4 and 2C9. Further clinical studies are needed to evaluate the significance of this interaction.