Hexokinase inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose combined with phenformin induces cell apoptosis of triple-negative breast cancer / 药学实践杂志

Objective To investigate the effect of phenformin combined with hexokinase inhibitor 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) on the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer cell lines 4T1 and MDA-MB-231. Methods Following treatment with phenformin, 2-DG or phenformin combined with 2-DG on 4T1 and MDA-MB-231 cells for 48 h, the cell proliferation in each group was detected by SRB and the apoptosis of cells was detected by flow cytometry. The concentration of glucose and lactic acid in cell culture supernatant was detected by ELISA. The activity of mitochondrial respiratory chain complex Ⅰ was detected by FlexStation3 and the mitochondrial oxygen consumption (OCR) was assayed with the Seahorse X Fe Analyzer. Results The hexokinase expression (4.6±0.17,3.73±0.21), glucose consumption (356±31，397±42) μg/105 cells , Lactic acid concentration (5.59±0.52, 7.83±0.78) μmol/L in the supernatant of 4T1 and MDA-MB-231 cells in Phenformin group were higher than that in control group ( 1±0.15，1±0.12 ) , ( 289±25，301±32) μg/105cells , ( 2.37±0.18，4.01±0.45) μmol/L (P < 0.01). Even if the dose was reduced by 90%, the cell viability of phenformin combined with 2-DG group (64.63±2.28, 51.97±2.29) % was still higher than that of phenformin group (86.70±1.83, 85.53±1.46) % (P<0.001). The combination of the two drugs significantly promoted the apoptosis of 4T1 and MDA-MB-231. In addition, compared with the phenformin group (5.59±0.52, 7.83±0.78) μmol/L, the phenformin combined with 2-DG group (3.46±0.37, 5.18±0.62) μmol/L cell lactic acid production also greatly reduced (P<0.01). Compared with the phenformin or 2-DG single-drug group, the phenformin combined with 2-DG group can significantly inhibit the growth rate of tumors in tumor-bearing mice (P<0.01). The median survival time of tumor-bearing mice in the phenformin combined with 2-DG group was 72.5 d, which was higher than that in the phenformin group 57 d and 2-DG group 55.5 d (P<0.01). Conclusion Hexokinase inhibitor 2-DG significantly enhances the therapeutic effects of phenformin on triple-negative breast cancer cells.

Blockade of P-Glycoprotein Decreased the Disposition of Phenformin and Increased Plasma Lactate Level

This study aimed to investigate the in vivo relevance of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in the pharmacokinetics and adverse effect of phenformin. To investigate the involvement of P-gp in the transport of phenformin, a bi-directional transport of phenformin was carried out in LLC-PK1 cells overexpressing P-gp, LLC-PK1-Pgp. Basal to apical transport of phenformin was 3.9-fold greater than apical to basal transport and became saturated with increasing phenformin concentration (2-75 µM) in LLC-PK1-Pgp, suggesting the involvement of P-gp in phenformin transport. Intrinsic clearance mediated by P-gp was 1.9 µL/min while passive diffusion clearance was 0.31 µL/min. Thus, P-gp contributed more to phenformin transport than passive diffusion. To investigate the contribution of P-gp on the pharmacokinetics and adverse effect of phenformin, the effects of verapamil, a P-gp inhibitor, on the pharmacokinetics of phenformin were also examined in rats. The plasma concentrations of phenformin were increased following oral administration of phenformin and intravenous verapamil infusion compared with those administerd phenformin alone. Pharmacokinetic parameters such as Cmax and AUC of phenformin increased and CL/F and Vss/F decreased as a consequence of verapamil treatment. These results suggested that P-gp blockade by verapamil may decrease the phenformin disposition and increase plasma phenformin concentrations. P-gp inhibition by verapamil treatment also increased plasma lactate concentration, which is a crucial adverse event of phenformin. In conclusion, P-gp may play an important role in phenformin transport process and, therefore, contribute to the modulation of pharmacokinetics of phenformin and onset of plasma lactate level.

Detection of Hypoglycemic Drugs Illegally Added in Haokangshu Capsules by UPLC/MS/MS / 中国药师

Objective:To detect the hypoglycemic drugs illegally added in Haokangshu capsules .Methods: High performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used with an ACQUITY BEH C18 column(50 mm ×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm)and methanol-0.01 mol· L-1 ammonium acetate as the mobile phase with gradient elution .Through the molecular ion peak, the second order mass fragment ion information and MRM mode chromatographic peak retention time and the other information , the cap-sules containing metformin hydrochloride and 11 kinds of chemical hypoglycemic drugs were determined .Results:Through the analysis of 11 chemical hypoglycemic drugs , two chemical hypoglycemic agents , phenformin and glyburide , were detected out in the capsules . Conclusion:Phenformin and glibenclamide are illegally added in Haokangshu capsules .