Apigenin, a novel candidate involving herb-drug interaction (HDI), interacts with organic anion transporter 1 (OAT1)

Background Apigenin is a flavonoid compound, widely distributed in natural plants. Various studies have suggested that apigenin has inhibitory effects towards several drug transporters, such as the organic anion transporting (OAT) polypeptides, 1B1 and 1B3 (OATP1B1 and OATP1B3). However, the mechanism by which apigenin interacts with OAT1 has not been well studied. Methods MDCK cells stably-expressing OAT1 were used to examine the inhibitory effects of apigenin on OAT1. UPLC–MS/MS was used to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo effects of apigenin on the uptake of acyclovir by OAT1. Cytotoxicity was determined by the cell viability, MTT assays. Results Apigenin effectively inhibited the activity of OAT1 in a dose-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 0.737 μM. Pre-incubation of cells with apigenin caused a time-dependent inhibition (TDI) of OAT1. Additionally, we examined the interactions between apigenin and acyclovir or adefovir. Data showed that apigenin (1 μM) significantly blocked the uptake of acyclovir by OAT1 in vitro with an inhibition rate of 55%. In vivo , apigenin could increase the concentration of acyclovir in plasma when co-administered with acyclovir. Importantly, the MTT assays showed that, at a dose of 50 μM, apigenin significantly reduced the cytotoxicity of adefovir and substantially increased cell viability from 50.6% to 112.62%. Conclusion Our results demonstrate that apigenin regulates OAT1, and can cause TDI or herb-drug interaction (HDI) when used in combination with acyclovir or adefovir. Therefore, apigenin could be used as a nephroprotective agent when used in combination with the substrates of OAT1.