Factors affecting the expression and function of P-glycoprotein in rats: drug treatments and diseased states

The expression and function of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an ATP-dependent efflux pump, were examined in rats pretreated with dexamethasone (DEX), an inducer of P-gp, and in rats with glycerol-induced acute renal failure (ARF) and with CCl4-induced acute hepatic failure (AHF). DEX pretreatment increased the P-gp level and its functional activity in the intestine. In contrast, in ARF and AHF rats, the in vivo P-gp function was systemically suppressed, even though the level of P-gp remained unchanged or rather increased. In Caco-2 cells, the plasma collected from diseased rats exhibited a greater inhibitory effect on P-gp function than did plasma from control rats. A higher-plasma level of corticosterone, an endogenous P-gp substrate/inhibitor, was observed in the disease rats. These findings indicate that the actual in vivo function of P-gp cannot be predicted merely from the expression level of P-gp, and suggest that some endogenous P-gp-related compounds such as corticosterone participate in the regulation of in vivo P-gp function in diseased states.