Inhibition kinetics of citrus jabara juice and its components on CYP2C9 activity

Our previous studies demonstrated that the ethyl acetate extract of the juice of jabara (JEx), a Japanese citrus fruit, inhibited cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 activity in a time-dependent manner, but does not inhibit CYP2C19 activity. Its components, 3,3',4',5,6,7,8-heptamethoxyflavone (HpMF) and 3,3',4',5,6,7-hexamethoxyflavone (HxMF), have been shown to be responsible for this CYP3A4 inhibition. This study aimed to investigate the nature of CYP2C9 inhibition by JEx, HpMF, and HxMF. The time-dependent inhibition kinetics of JEx against human recombinant CYP2C9 were investigated in vitro using warfarin as a substrate. The time-independent inhibition kinetics of JEx, HpMF, and HxMF against CYP2C9 were also determined. JEx did not cause time-dependent inhibition of CYP2C9, while JEx, HpMF, and HxMF inhibited CYP2C9 activity in a time-independent manner with IC₅₀ values of 2.65 % equivalent, 16.2 µM, and 57.8 µM, respectively. HpMF and HxMF were considered to be primarily responsible for CYP2C9 inhibition by JEx. The ingestion of 250 mL of jabara juice was estimated to reduce intestinal CYP2C9 activity to 3 % of the control value assuming of dilution with 210 mL of intestinal fluid, suggesting that jabara juice may cause food-drug interactions via intestinal CYP2C9 inhibition.