Comprehensive Evaluation of Metabolism and the Contribution of the Hepatic First-Pass Effect in the Bioavailability of Glabridin in Rats.

Glabridin is a bioactive isoflavan, which has a wide range of biological properties and is widely used in the market of health products and dietary supplements. However, the transformation pathway of glabridin in vivo is unclear, and the bioavailability is controversial among different studies. Therefore, a new HPLC-Q-TOF method was developed to analyze and identify the prototype and metabolites of glabridin in rats. A total of 63 compounds were identified, including hydroxylation, demethylation, acetylation, demethylation to carboxylation, glucuronidation, and sulfate conjugation, and 43 of which were new metabolites that had not been reported. Additionally, our study verified that the oral bioavailability of glabridin was 6.63 ± 2.29% in rats. Furthermore, we found that the hepatic first-pass effect was 62.12 ± 15.7% for glabridin. These results indicated that a high hepatic first-pass effect and extensive metabolism of glabridin in vivo may lead to its limited oral bioavailability.

Multiple MicroRNAs synergistically promote tolerance to epidermal growth factor receptor-targeted drugs in smoked lung cancer therapies.

AIMS: Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality. Tobacco usage is considered as associated with the carcinogenesis, progression, and prognosis of lung cancer. Previous studies have demonstrated that the smoking inhibited medical therapy results from K-Ras gene mutation through suppressing the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway. However, recent clinical trials have revealed that few smoked lung cancer patients present K-Ras gene mutation; yet, the majority of smoked lung cancer patients remain K-Ras nonmutation. The chemo-resistant mechanism remains unclear. Recently, microRNA (miRNA) interaction has been found to play an important role in drug resistance process. We hypothesized that miRNA may exert medicine resistance during the processes of lung cancer therapy. METHODS: Here, we analyzed miRNA array data from the GEO database. RESULTS: Our results showed that the interaction network among hsa-miR-30d-3p, hsa-miR-184, hsa-miR-500a, hsa-miR-542-3p, among others, inhibited EGFR-targeted medicine therapy. CONCLUSION: The research will provide evidence that promotes novel therapy of lung cancers.