Effects of Naringin on the Bioavailability of Etoposide in Rats

This study investigated the effect of naringin, a flavonoid, on the bioavailability of etoposide administered orally to rats. Etoposide (6 mg/kg) was administered orally to rats alone or with naringin (1, 4 or 12 mg/kg). Compared with the control group, the co-administration of etoposide with 4 and 12 mg/kg of naringin significantly (p<0.05) increased the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and the peak plasma concentration ($C_{max}$) of the oral etoposide. Consequently, the absolute bioavailability (AB) of etoposide in the presence (4 and 12 mg/kg) of naringin was significantly (p<0.05) increased by $9.4{\sim}10.6%$ compared with the control group (7.4%). The relative bioavailability (RB) of etoposide was increased 1.13- to 1.44-fold compared to the control group. Enhanced bioavailability of etoposide might be due to inhibition of both cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 in the intestine or liver and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) transport efflux of etoposide in the intestinal membrane. This data indicate that careful consideration of the dosage for therapy with etoposide is required in a case of clinical application of the co-administration of etoposide and naringin.