Effects of glycyrrhizin on the pharmacokinetics of asiatic acid in rats and its potential mechanism

Context: Asiatic acid has been reported to possess a wide range of pharmacological activities. Objective: This study investigates the effects of glycyrrhizin on the pharmacokinetics of asiatic acid in rats and its potential mechanism. Materials and methods: The pharmacokinetics of orally administered asiatic acid (20 mg/kg) with or without glycyrrhizin pretreatment (100 mg/kg/day for seven days) were investigated using a LC-MS method. Additionally, the Caco-2 cell transwell model and rat liver microsome incubation systems were used to investigate the potential mechanism of glycyrrhizin's effects on the pharmacokinetics of asiatic acid. Results: The results showed that the C max (221.33 ± 21.06 vs. 324.67 ± 28.64 ng/mL), AUC 0-inf (496.12 ± 109.31 vs. 749.15 ± 163.95 μg·h/L) and the t 1/2 (1.21 ± 0.27 vs. 2.04 ± 0.32 h) of asiatic acid decreased significantly (p