Gut Microbiota-Regulated Pharmacokinetics of Berberine and Active Metabolites in Beagle Dogs After Oral Administration.

Ru Feng,Zhen-Xiong Zhao,Yan Wang,Jian-Dong Jiang,Fang Guo,Shu-Rong Ma

doi:10.3389/fphar.2018.00214

Abstract

Berberine (BBR) is considered a multi-target drug that has significant advantages. In contrast to its significant pharmacological effects in clinic, the plasma level of BBR is very low. Our previous work revealed that dihydroberberine (dhBBR) could be an absorbable form of BBR in the intestine, and butyrate is an active metabolite that is generated by gut bacteria in rats. In this study, for the first time we describe gut microbiota-regulated pharmacokinetics in beagle dogs after oral administration of BBR by single (50 mg/kg) or multiple doses (50 mg/kg/d) for 7 days. GC-MS, GC, LC-MS/MS, and LC/MSn-IT-TOF were used to detect dhBBR, butyrate and BBR as well as its Phase I and II metabolites, respectively. The results showed that dhBBR was not detected in dog plasma but was excreted in small amounts in the feces of dogs examined on days 3 and 7. Butyrate was generated by gut bacteria and increased by 1.3- and 1.2-fold in plasma or feces, respectively, after 7 days of BBR treatment compared to the levels before treatment. Changes of intestinal bacterial composition were analyzed by 16S rRNA genes analysis. The results presented that dogs treated with BBR for 7 days increased both the abundance of the butyrate- and the nitroreductases- producing bacteria. We also identified chemical structures of the Phase I and II metabolites and analyzed their contents in beagle dogs. Eleven metabolites were detected in plasma and feces after BBR oral administration (50 mg/kg) to dogs, including 8 metabolites of Phase I and III metabolites of Phase II. The pharmacokinetic profile indicated that the concentration of BBR in plasma was low, with a Cmax value of 36.88 ± 23.45 ng/mL. The relative content of glucuronic acid conjugates (M11) was higher than those of other metabolites (M1, M2, M12, and M14) in plasma. BBR was detected in feces, with high excreted amounts on day 3 (2625.04 ± 1726.94 μg/g) and day 7 (2793.43 ± 488.10 μg/g). In summary, this is the first study to describe gut microbiota-regulated pharmacokinetics in beagle dogs after oral administration of BBR, which is beneficial for discovery of drugs with poor absorption but good therapeutic efficacy.

Highlights

Berberine (BBR) is an isoquinoline alkaloid derived from the rhizome of Coptis chinensis (“Huang-Lian” in Chinese) of the Ranunculaceae family
Studies have shown that BBR modulates the composition of the intestinal bacterial community (Zhang et al, 2012), and our previous study demonstrated that butyrate is generated by oral administration of BBR and improves energy metabolism in the presence of berberine (Wang et al, 2017a)
DhBBR was not detected in plasma by gas chromatography (GC)-MS after BBR oral administration to dogs (Figure 2A), but it was detected in feces (Figure 2B) at 348.0 ± 394.7 and 264.3 ± 133.0 μg/g on days 3 and 7, respectively (Figures 3C–R)

Summary

Introduction

Berberine (BBR) (its structure is shown in Figure 1A) is an isoquinoline alkaloid derived from the rhizome of Coptis chinensis (“Huang-Lian” in Chinese) of the Ranunculaceae family. It has been widely used throughout history as an antidiarrheic. Butyrate (structure shown in Figure 1B), as one of the most extensively examined short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) (Byrne et al, 2015; Koh et al, 2016), is the principal product of bacterial fermentation in the gut and may regulate host energy metabolism and benefit health (Gao et al, 2009; Natarajan and Pluznick, 2014). Studies have shown that BBR modulates the composition of the intestinal bacterial community (Zhang et al, 2012), and our previous study demonstrated that butyrate is generated by oral administration of BBR and improves energy metabolism in the presence of berberine (Wang et al, 2017a)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion