Reductive metabolism of the sanguinarine iminium bond by rat liver preparations.

Abstract

Sanguinarine (SA) is a quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloid that is mainly present in the Papaveraceae family. SA has been extensively studied because of its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antihypertensive, antiproliferative and antiplatelet activities. Metabolic studies demonstrated that SA bioavailability is apparently low, and the main pathway of SA metabolism is iminium bond reduction resulting in dihydrosanguinarine (DHSA) formation. Nevertheless, the metabolic enzymes involved in SA reduction are still not known in detail. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the rat liver microsomes and cytosol-induced SA iminium bond reduction, and to examine the effects of cytosol reductase inhibitors on the reductive activity.