• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.104-113
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• 2008

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of five herbal medicines on cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 drug-metabolizing enzymes in human liver microsomes. Methods: By using of human liver microsomes, we extracted Cnidium officinale Makino, Rhus verniciflua Stokes, Prunus persica Batsch, Corydalis remota Fisch, Carthamus tinctorius Linne, which are called Hwalhyulgeoouhyak(活血祛瘀藥). Then they were incubated and measured for relative enzyme activity under incubation conditions compared to ketoconazole, which is known as a representative inhibitor of CYP 3A4. Results: We showed that all of five traditional herbal medicines had no inhibition effect of CYP 3A4 at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50${\mu}g/m{\ell}$ doses in human liver microsomes, although Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) showed a little inhibition as about 95% enzyme activity of control. However, this result was not enough to prove that RVS has a CYP 3A4 inhibition effect. Moreover, we can't confirm that those rates have significant induction effect on CYP 3A4. Conclusions: The result of this study could support that those herbal medicines are more reliable than chemical drugs, even if this is a basic step to prove that result.