The combination of atorvastatin with silymarin enhances hypolipidemic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects in a rat model of metabolic syndrome.

Hypolipidemic and cardioprotective effects of statins can be associated with the development of myopathies and new-onset type 2 diabetes. These adverse effects may be related to increased oxidative stress. The plant extract silymarin (SM) is known for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. We tested the hypothesis that the combination of atorvastatin (ATV) with SM could improve therapy efficacy and eliminate some negative effects of statin on hypertriglyceridemia-induced metabolic disorders. Hereditary hypertriglyceridemic rats were fed a standard diet for four weeks without supplementation; supplemented with ATV (5 mg/kg b. wt./day) or a combination of ATV with 1 % micronized SM (ATV+SM). ATV treatment elevated plasma levels of HDL-cholesterol (p<0.01), glucose and insulin and decreased triglycerides (p<0.001). The combination of ATV+SM led to a significant reduction in insulin, an improvement of glucose tolerance, and the hypolipidemic effect was enhanced compared to ATV alone. Furthermore, ATV supplementation increased skeletal muscle triglycerides but its combination with SM decreased triglycerides accumulation in the muscle (p<0.05) and the liver (p<0.01). In the liver, ATV+SM treatment increased the activities of antioxidant enzymes, glutathione and reduced lipid peroxidation (p<0.001). The combined administration of ATV with SM potentiated the hypolipidemic effect, reduced ectopic lipid accumulation, improved glucose metabolism, and increased antioxidant and anti-inflammatory actions. Our results show that SM increased the effectiveness of statin therapy in a hypertriglyceridemic rat model of metabolic syndrome.

In vitro and in silico studies of interaction of synthetic 2,6,9-trisubstituted purine kinase inhibitors BPA-302, BP-21 and BP-117 with liver drug-metabolizing cytochromes P450

An evaluation of possible interactions with enzymes of drug metabolism (cytochromes P450, CYP) is an important part of studies on safety and, in general, on the properties of any drug or biologically active compound. The article is focused on the preliminary metabolic study of selected 2,6,9-trisubstituted purine kinase inhibitors with significant anticancer activities which we have developed. The compounds BP-21 and BP-117 represent strong CDK inhibitors and the compound BPA-302 was developed as selective FLT3-ITD kinase inhibitor. Here, emphasis is placed on interactions of these compounds with the nine most important forms of CYP to evaluate the possibility of inhibition of these enzymes. The possibility of their inhibitory effect was studied in vitro on selected human liver microsomal CYP enzymes. The most affected enzyme was CYP2C19. Its activity dropped to 22 % of its original value by BPA 302, to 13 % by BP-21 and to 6 % by BP-117 at the highest concentration tested (250 µmol·l(-1)). The results suggest that the metabolism of concomitantly administered drugs should not be significantly affected at lower doses. Molecular docking of BPA-302 indicated that it can bind to active site of both CYP2C19 and CYP2D6 enzymes above the heme cofactor corroborating the experimental data.

The effect of combined diet containing n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and silymarin on metabolic syndrome in rats.

The risk of development of metabolic syndrome can be increased by hypertriglyceridemia. A search for effective therapy is a subject of considerable attention. Therefore, our hypothesis is that the fish oil (containing polyunsaturated fatty acids; n-3 PUFA) in a combination with silymarin can more effectively protect against hypertriglyceridemia-induced metabolic disturbances. The study was conducted using a unique non-obese strain of rats with hereditary hypertriglyceridemia an accepted model of metabolic syndrome. Adult male rats were treated with n-3 PUFA (300 mg/kg/day) without or with 1 % micronized silymarin in a diet for 4 weeks. The treatment with the diet containing n-3 PUFA and silymarin significantly reduced concentrations of serum triglycerides (-45 %), total cholesterol (-18 %), non-esterified fatty acids (-33 %), and ectopic lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle (-35 %) compared to controls. In addition, an increase in Abcg5 and Abcg8 mRNA expression (as genes affecting lipid homeostasis) as well as in protein content of ABCG5 (+78 %) and ABCG8 (+232 %) transporters have been determined in the liver of treated rats. Our findings suggest that this combined diet could be used in the prevention of hypertriglyceridemia-induced metabolic disorders.