Protection of schisantherin A against dictamnine‐induced hepatotoxicity: Pharmacokinetic insights

Abstract Dictamnine (DIC), as the most abundant furoquinoline alkaloid ingredient of the herbal medicine Cortex Dictamni (CD), can induce severe liver injury. A previous study found that DIC‐induced liver injury was initiated by cytochrome P4503A (CYP3A)‐mediated metabolic activation and subsequent formation of adducts with cellular proteins. Schisantherin A (SchA) is the major lignan component of the herbal medicine Schisandra chinensis (SC). SC is frequently combined with CD used in numerous Chinese medicinal formulas for the treatment of eczema and urticaria. Furthermore, SC could protect against CD‐induced hepatotoxicity. The objective of the study was to investigate the protective effect of SchA on DIC‐induced hepatotoxicity based on pharmacokinetic interactions. The studies found that SchA exerted a protective effect on DIC‐induced hepatotoxicity in a dose‐dependent manner. Pharmacokinetic studies showed that pretreatment with SchA enhanced the area under concentration‐time curve (AUC) and maximal concentration (Cmax) values of DIC in the serum and liver tissue of mice, indicating that SchA could augment the accumulation of DIC in the circulation. In vitro metabolism assays with mouse liver microsomes (MLMs) showed that SchA reduced the production of DIC–glutathione (GSH) conjugate. In addition, SchA significantly reduced the excretion of DIC–GSH conjugate in the urine of mice and relieved hepatic GSH depletion induced by DIC. These results suggested that SchA could inhibit the metabolic activation of DIC in vitro and in vivo. In summary, our findings showed that the observed pharmacokinetic interactions might be attributable to the inhibition of the metabolism of DIC by SchA, which might be responsible for the protection of SchA against DIC‐induced hepatotoxicity. Therefore, the development of a standardized combination of DIC and SchA may protect patients from DIC‐induced liver injury.