Interaction between propranolol and amino acids in the single-pass isolated, perfused rat liver

Propranolol (PL) bioavailability has been shown to increase substantially when it is administered with a protein-rich meal. A change in metabolic capacity or tissue uptake, induced by amino acids (AAs) released as a result of digestion of dietary protein, is a possible contributing mechanism to the food effect. This hypothesis was tested in isolated, perfused rat livers in the single-pass mode. Rac-PL (20 micrograms/ml) was infused to steady-state at 3 ml/min/g liver for 150 min. A balanced mixture of I-AA was coinfused from 70 to 110 min. The AA reversibly increased the steady-state concentration of PL by 18% and reduced steady-state concentrations of 4-hydroxypropranolol, N-deisopropylpranolol, PL glycol, naphthoxylactic acid, and naphthoxyacetic acid by an average of 41% and propanolol conjugates by almost 100%, indicating metabolic inhibition. In a second experiment, PL was coinfused with AAs from the beginning of the experiment, and tissue binding was compared with control livers. There was no significant effect of AAs on PL tissue binding. In a third study, the effect of four different concentrations of AAs coinfused from 70 to 110 min was assessed. The percentage change in PL and phase I metabolite levels was linearly correlated to the influent AA concentration. The large magnitude, reversibility, lack of pathway specificity, and concentration dependence of the AA interaction in the perfused liver are also features of food interaction in humans. These similarities constitute evidence that metabolic inhibition by AAs originating from dietary protein could contribute to the PL-food interaction.