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5355361 
Journal Article 
Mitragyna speciosa Korth leaves extracts induced the CYP450 catalyzed aminopyrine-N-demethylase (APND) and UDP-glucuronosyl transferase (UGT) activities in male Sprague-Dawley rat livers 
Azizi, J; Ismail, S; Mansor, SM 
2013 
Yes 
Drug Metabolism and Drug Interactions
ISSN: 0792-5077
EISSN: 2191-0162 
28 
2 
95-105 
English 
23435185 
BACKGROUND: Mitragyna speciosa leaves have been abused by drug addicts as some of the alkaloids (mainly mitragynine) from the plant possess opiate and cocaine-like effects. These bring to its prohibition in Malaysia in 2004 as consumption of M. speciosa leaves has been perceived to lead to the abuse of other drugs such as cannabis and heroin.

METHODS: In the current study, the in vitro and in vivo effects of M. speciosa methanolic, aqueous and total alkaloid leaves extracts on drug metabolizing enzymes, namely, cytochrome P450s (CYP450s) and UDP-glucuronosyl transferase (UGT) had been evaluated in rat liver cytosolic fraction and microsomes. Aminopyrine and p-nitrophenol (pNP) were employed as probe substrates in aminopyrine N-demethylase (APND) and UGT enzyme assays, respectively. Furthermore, mitragynine was also tested in vitro for its likelihood to inhibit APND and UGT activity. The assessment of the enzyme activity was conducted using spectrophotometric methods.

RESULTS: In vitro, the IC50 value could only be obtained for the methanolic extract in APND study (595.30±30.78 µg/mL) and not in other studies due to the enzyme percentage inhibitions being <70%. In contrast to the in vitro study, the oral treatment of male Sprague-Dawley rats for 14 days with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of methanolic and aqueous extracts and with 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg of total alkaloid extract showed a profound increment on the APND and UGT activities.

CONCLUSIONS: The current findings showed that possibilities exist for herb-drug interaction with increased clearance of drugs, which are primarily metabolized by CYP450s and UGT1A6 among M. speciosa leaves extract users.