TY - JOUR T1 - TRANSPORT OF ANTHELMINTIC BENZIMIDAZOLE DRUGS BY BREAST CANCER RESISTANCE PROTEIN (BCRP/ABCG2) JF - Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO - Drug Metab Dispos SP - 614 LP - 618 DO - 10.1124/dmd.104.003319 VL - 33 IS - 5 AU - Gracia Merino AU - Johan W. Jonker AU - Els Wagenaar AU - Mivis M. Pulido AU - Antonio J. Molina AU - Ana I. Alvarez AU - Alfred H. Schinkel Y1 - 2005/05/01 UR - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/33/5/614.abstract N2 - Methylcarbamate benzimidazoles [albendazole (ABZ), fenbendazole (FBZ), and their respective sulfoxide derivatives, albendazole sulfoxide (ABZSO) and oxfendazole (OXF)] are therapeutically important anthelmintic agents with low bioavailability. We studied their in vitro interaction with the apical ATP-binding cassette (ABC) drug efflux transporters, breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP/ABCG2), P-glycoprotein (ABCB1), and MRP2 (ABCC2) using MDCKII cells transduced with human MDR1, MRP2, and BCRP, and murine Bcrp1 cDNAs. These ABC drug efflux transporters extrude a wide range of xenotoxins from cells in intestine, liver, and other organs, thus affecting the bioavailability of many compounds. In transport experiments, ABZSO and OXF were transported efficiently by murine Bcrp1 and moderately by human BCRP, but not by MDR1 or MRP2. ABZ and FBZ were not found to be Bcrp1, MRP2, or P-glycoprotein substrates in vitro. OXF was found to be a good BCRP/Bcrp1 inhibitor, with somewhat higher potency in the MDCKII-BCRP cell line. The latter results were confirmed by flow cytometry experiments demonstrating inhibition by OXF of murine Bcrp1- and human BCRP-mediated mitoxantrone transport. Further studies of interactions between OXF and known BCRP/Bcrp1 substrates will be of interest. The use of efficacious BCRP/Bcrp1 inhibitors might increase the extent and duration of systemic exposure to ABZSO and OXF, with possible therapeutically beneficial effects in extra-intestinal infections. The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -