抄録
A study of glycyrrhizin metabolism using rat fecal suspensions showed that glycyrrhizin consumption significantly activated glycyrrhizin metabolism, with glycyrrhizin consumption significantly elevating glycyrrhizin metabolism in some rats (responders) but not in others (nonresponders). Since intestinal microflora are believed to be responsible for the difference between responders and nonresponders, an attempt was made to identify those factors associated with the response to glycyrrhizin consumption by investigating the effects of long-term consumption and fasting on glycyrrhizin metabolism. The results showed that long-term glycyrrhizin consumption and fasting caused nonresponder rats to become responders. Since fasting was the most significant factor in the response to glycyrrhizin consumption, fasting appears to be one of the major facilitators of intestinal metabolism of glycyrrhizin. Given that this noninvasive and convenient metabolic study could ascertain the metabolism of prodrugs such as glycyrrhizin, the technique could also be useful for identifying responders to herbal and Chinese medicines. Furthermore, the relationship between the response to glycyrrhizin consumption and pseudoaldosteronism was investigated by comparing urinary potassium and blood pressure, but no significant differences in these parameters were observed between responders and nonresponders.
