title: The conjugative metabolism of 4-methylumbelliferone and deconjugation to the parent drug examined by isolated perfused liver and in vitro liver homogenate of rats.
abstract: We examined the disposition of 4-methylumbelliferone (4-MU) and its conjugative metabolites, glucuronide (4-MUG) and sulfate (4-MUS), using a single-pass rat liver perfusion system. When 4-MU was delivered, the steady-state hepatic extraction ratio for 4-MU was very high (approximately 1.0) and its conjugative metabolites, 4-MUG and 4-MUS, appeared to a large extent in the effluent perfusate. The biliary excretion rate of the 4-MUG conjugated from 4-MU was 44% of the infusion rate at the steady-state, whereas those of 4-MU and 4-MUS were less than 1% of the infusion rate. When 4-MUG was delivered, the steady-state hepatic extraction ratio for 4-MUG was very low (less than 0.05) and the removal rate of 4-MUG from the perfusate was almost identical to the excretion rate of 4-MUG into the bile, while 4-MU and 4-MUS were slightly excreted into the bile (1% of the total biliary excretion rate), suggesting that a little deconjugation of 4-MUG to 4-MU occurred in the liver. Similarly, 4-MU and 4-MUS were not detectable in the effluent perfusate. The apparent extraction ratio (Eapp) for the intracellularly conjugated 4-MUG was approximately twenty times higher than that for the pre-conjugated 4-MUG. This discrepancy between the values of Eapp for the intracellularly conjugated and pre-conjugated 4-MUG might be attributed mainly to the diffusional barrier for the metabolite between the blood and hepatocytes, as suggested in the previous simulation (J. Pharmacokin, Biopharm., 15, 399 (1987].(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iga
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006923:Hymecromone / Q000378:metabolism*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D014468:Umbelliferones / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D014468:Umbelliferones; D006923:Hymecromone