Evaluation of 3,3',4'-trihydroxyflavone and 3,6,4'-trihydroxyflavone (4'-O-glucuronidation) as the in vitro functional markers for hepatic UGT1A1.

Identifying uridine 5'-diphospho-(UDP)-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT)-selective probes (substrates that are primarily glucuronidated by a single isoform) is complicated by the enzymes' large overlapping substrate specificity. Here, regioselective glucuronidation of two flavonoids, 3,3',4'-trihydroxyflavone (3,3',4'-THF) and 3,6,4'-trihydroxyflavone (3,6,4'-THF), is used to probe the activity of hepatic UGT1A1. The glucuronidation kinetics of 3,3',4'-THF and 3,6,4'-THF was determined using 12 recombinant human UGT isoforms and pooled human liver microsomes (pHLM). The individual contribution of main UGT isoforms to the metabolism of the two flavonoids in pHLM was estimated using the relative activity factor approach. UGT1A1 activity correlation analyses using flavonoids-4'-O-glucuronidation vs β-estradiol-3-glucuronidation (a well-recognized marker for UGT1A1) or vs SN-38 glucuronidation were performed using a bank of HLMs (n = 12) including three UGT1A1-genotyped HLMs (i.e., UGT1A1*1*1, UGT1A1*1*28, and UGT1A1*28*28). The results showed that UGT1A1 and 1A9, followed by 1A7, were the main isoforms for glucuronidating the two flavonoids, where UGT1A1 accounted for 92 ± 7% and 91 ± 10% of 4'-O-glucuronidation of 3,3',4'-THF and 3,6,4'-THF, respectively, and UGT1A9 accounted for most of the 3-O-glucuronidation. Highly significant correlations (R(2) > 0.944, p < 0.0001) between the rates of flavonoids 4'-O-glucuronidation and that of estradiol-3-glucuronidation or SN-38 glucuronidation were observed across 12 HLMs. In conclusion, UGT1A1-mediated 4'-O-glucuronidation of 3,3',4'-THF and 3,6,4'-THF was highly correlated with the glucuronidation of estradiol (3-OH) and SN-38. This study demonstrated for the first time that regioselective glucuronidation of flavonoids can be applied to probe hepatic UGT1A1 activity in vitro.