Hmm. I thought Quercetin, found in peels, increased Tamoxifen absorption:
Int J Pharm. 2006 Apr 26;313(1-2):144-9. Epub 2006 Mar 3.
Enhanced bioavailability of tamoxifen after oral administration of tamoxifen with quercetin in rats.
Shin SC,
Choi JS,
Li X.
College of Pharmacy, Chonnam National University, Bukgu, Gwangju 500-757, Republic of Korea.
Abstract
Orally administered tamoxifen undergoes a first-pass metabolism and substrates for multidrug resistance (MDR) transporters efflux in the liver and intestines, which obstructs its systemic exposure. This study investigated the effect of quercetin, a dual inhibitor of CYP3A4 and P-gp, on the bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of tamoxifen and one of its metabolites, 4-hydroxytamoxifen, in rats. The pharmacokinetic parameters of tamoxifen and 4-hydroxytamoxifen in plasma were determined after orally administering tamoxifen (10 mg/kg) with or without quercetin (2.5, 7.5 and 15 mg/kg). The coadministration of quercetin (2.5 and 7.5 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.05) increased the absorption rate constant (K(a)), peak concentration (C(max)) and the areas under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of tamoxifen. The absolute bioavailability (AB%) of tamoxifen with 2.5 and 7.5 mg/kg quercetin ranged from 18.0% to 24.1%, which was significantly higher than the control group, 15.0% (p < 0.05). The relative bioavailability (RB%) of tamoxifen coadministered with quercetin was 1.20-1.61 times higher than the control group. The coadministration of quercetin caused no significant changes in the terminal half-life (t(1/2)) and the time to reach the peak concentration (T(max)) of tamoxifen. Compared with the control group, the coadministration of 7.5 mg/kg quercetin significantly (p < 0.05) increased the AUC of 4-hydroxytamoxifen. However, the metabolite ratios (MR; AUC of 4-hydroxytamoxifen to tamoxifen) were significantly lower (p < 0.05). This suggests that quercetin inhibits the both MDR transporters efflux and first-pass metabolism of tamoxifen. The enhanced bioavailability of tamoxifen as a result of its coadministration with quercetin might be due to the effect of quercetin promoting the intestinal absorption and reducing the first-pass metabolism of tamoxifen. If the results are further confirmed in the clinical trials, the tamoxifen dosage should be adjusted when tamoxifen is administered with quercetin or quercetin-containing dietary supplements in order to avoid potential drug interactions.
PMID: 16516418 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]