Rutaecarpine enhances the anti-diabetic activity and hepatic distribution of metformin via up-regulation of Oct1 in diabetic rats.

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disorder with multiple complications, patients who receive metformin may have a simultaneous intake of herbal medicine containing rutaecarpine due to cardiovascular protection and hypolipidemic effects of rutaecarpine. There might be drug interactions between metformin and rutaecarpine. This study aimed to investigate the effects of rutaecarpine on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of metformin in diabetic rats.

Involvement of organic anion-transporting polypeptides and organic cation transporter in the hepatic uptake of jatrorrhizine.

Jatrorrhizine possesses a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities. However, the mechanism underlying hepatic uptake of jatrorrhizine remains unclear.Rat liver slices, isolated rat hepatocytes and human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells stably expressing human organic anion-transporting polypeptide (OATP) and organic cation transporter (OCT) were used to evaluate the hepatic uptake of jatrorrhizine in this study.