Disease relevance of glycyrrhizin

• In addition, glycyrrhizic acid inactivates herpes simplex virus particles irreversibly [1].
• Glycyrrhizic acid inhibits virus growth and inactivates virus particles [1].
• They reinforce the notion that a defect in 11 beta-OHSD plays a major role in the syndrome of apparent mineralocorticoid excess and liquorice-induced hypertension [2].
• A new study reported in this issue of the JCI shows that treatment of cells latently infected with Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) with glycyrrhizic acid, a component of licorice, reduces synthesis of a viral latency protein and induces apoptosis of infected cells [3].
• Deglycyrrhizinated liquorice for peptic ulcer [4].

Psychiatry related information on glycyrrhizin

• Although the decrease in locomotor activity was partially blocked and adaptation to repetitive stress was enhanced in the rats given glycyrrhizic acid for 10 days, this was not seen in rats treated with glycyrrhizic acid for 4 or 9 weeks [5].
• To clarify the dose-response and the time-response relationship between liquorice consumption and rise in blood pressure and explore the inter-individual variance this intervention study was designed and executed in research laboratories at University hospitals in Iceland and Sweden [6].
• Since scopolamine-induced amnesia was reversed by liquorice, it is possible that the beneficial effect on learning and memory was due to facilitation of cholinergic-transmission in mouse brain [7].
• Although she was apparently in remission from anorexia nervosa, the diet was found to be markedly abnormal with an excessive ingestion of liquorice and a low potassium salt intake [8].

High impact information on glycyrrhizin

• Glycyrrhizic acid alters Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus latency, triggering p53-mediated apoptosis in transformed B lymphocytes [9].
• An explanation for this result was that the active component in liquorice (glycyrrhizic acid) interfered with 17 beta-hydroxysteroid deyhydrogenase, which has been shown in vitro to catalyse the conversion of androstenedione to testosterone [10].
• Liquorice and blood pressure [11].
• In-vitro studies confirmed the presence of the enzyme in skin from nude mice and showed that it is inhibited by glycyrrhetinic acid, the major active component of liquorice [12].
• Mineralocorticoid activity of liquorice: 11-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency comes of age [13].

Chemical compound and disease context of glycyrrhizin

• Carbenoxolone Sodium (CS), a chemical derivative of liquorice is known to be associated with hypertension, increased sodium retention and hypokalemia [14].
• To analyze the relationship between the pharmacokinetics of glycyrrhizic acid in its toxicity, the kinetics of glycyrrhizic acid and its biologically active metabolite glycyrrhetic acid were evaluated [15].
• The effects of glycyrrhizin and its aglycone, glycyrrhetinic acid, on the cytoplasmic free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in mastocytoma P-815 cells, DNP-Ascaris (antigen) sensitized mast cells, hepatocytes, fibroblasts and endothelial cells were investigated [16].
• The authors tested whether maternal consumption of glycyrrhizin (an inhibitor of cortisol metabolism) in licorice affects birth weight in humans [17].
• The effects of glycyrrhizin and its aglycone, glycyrrhetinic acid, on dexamethasone-induced changes in the histamine synthesis of mastocytoma P-815 cells and in the histamine release from antigen-stimulated rat peritoneal mast cells were investigated [18].

Biological context of glycyrrhizin

• Sho-saiko-to suppressed the proliferation of the carcinoma cell lines significantly more strongly than did each of its major ingredients, i.e., saikosaponin a, c, and d, ginsenoside Rb1 and Rg1, glycyrrhizin, baicalin, baicalein, and wogonin, or another herbal medicine, juzen-taiho-to (P < 0.05 or 0.005) [19].
• Our aim was to determine the dose frequency of glycyrrhizin required to maintain the ALT response beyond 4 weeks and evaluate its effect on liver histology and quality of life [20].
• Thus glycyrrhizin suppressed the intracellular transport of HBsAg at the trans-Golgi area after O-linked glycosylation and before its sialylation [21].
• The pharmacokinetics of glycyrrhizic acid evaluated by physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling [15].
• Hydrolysis of glycyrrhizin to 18 beta-glycyrrhetyl monoglucuronide by lysosomal beta-D-glucuronidase of animal livers [22].

Anatomical context of glycyrrhizin

• Substrates for 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, cortisone, glycyrrhizic acid and metyrapone all inhibited the formation of NNAL in incubations with human cervical microsomes; the inhibition ranged from 16% to 80% [23].
• Glycyrrhizin suppressed the secretion of HBsAg, resulting in its accumulation in the cytoplasmic vacuoles in the Golgi apparatus area [21].
• The effect of 6 drugs (glycyrrhizin, ursodeoxycholic acid, ribavirin, methylprednisolone, IFN-alpha, and IFN-beta) on HCV RNA translation from the HCV internal ribosome entry site (IRES) was investigated, using a bicistronic reporter containing the HCV IRES [24].
• Collaboration between enriched T-lymphocytes and macrophages, both treated with glycyrrhizin, was needed for the enhancement of interferon-gamma production [25].
• No significant difference in the adsorption of [3H]Con A to glycyrrhizin-treated and control lymphocyte-macrophage cultures was found, but RNA and protein synthesis of the treated lymphocytes was increased compared to control cells; DNA synthesis, however, was reduced [25].

Associations of glycyrrhizin with other chemical compounds

• Based on studies in laboratory animals and on measurements of the urinary metabolites (allo)tetrahydrocortisol and tetrahydrocortisone in human volunteers it has been claimed that liquorice-induced mineralocorticoid excess is caused by a unique defect in the conversion of cortisol to cortisone [26].
• 18 beta-Glycyrrhetinic acid (GRA) represents a major metabolite of glycyrrhizic acid (glycyrrhizin), an important constituent of licorice and licorice root, and is a potent inhibitor of 11 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (11 beta OHSD) [27].
• Several herbal medications including canthaxanthine, chamomile, datura, Echinacea purpurea, Ginkgo biloba and liquorice have also been associated with several ocular adverse effects.It is the role of all healthcare professionals to detect, treat and educate the public about adverse reactions to medications as they are an important health problem [28].
• Glycyrrhizic acid is mainly absorbed after presystemic hydrolysis as glycyrrhetic acid [15].
• These two compounds, when injected via cannulae into the reticular nucleus of the thalamus (NRT), decreased significantly the duration of seizures as compared with saline injections or injections of the CBX inactive derivative glycyrrhizic acid [29].

Gene context of glycyrrhizin

• Glycyrrhizic acid also inhibited both renal 11 beta HSD mRNA and activity and levels of Na,K-ATPase alpha 1/beta 1 mRNA [30].
• Glycyrrhizin, one of the chemical constituents of hochu-ekki-to, reduced supernatant virus titers dose-dependently.Conclusion and implications:Hochu-ekki-to inhibited RV14 infection by decreasing ICAM-1 and by blocking entry of viral RNA into the cytoplasm from the endosomes, in airway epithelial cells [31].
• Glycyrrhizin as a promoter of the late signal transduction for interleukin-2 production by splenic lymphocytes [32].
• Reduction in UFE excretion is seen following liquorice ingestion and in both variants of AME, though it is more profound in AME1 [33].
• Administration of glycyrrhizic acid in vivo (> 100 mg/kg for 4 days) resulted in inhibition of 11 beta-HSD1 mRNA and activity and a decrease in mRNA levels for the glucocorticoid-dependent enzyme, phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase, whilst levels of the glucocorticoid-independent enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase were unchanged [34].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of glycyrrhizin

• A 36-year-old woman presented with proximal muscle weakness, cramps, and a serum potassium level of 2.7 mEq/l. During her hospitalization she was noted to use excessive quantities of a snuff preparation containing glycyrrhizinic acid, a potent mineralocorticoid analogue [35].
• An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) that had an effective measuring range of 20 -200 ng/mL of glycyrrhizin was established using this monoclonal antibody [36].
• In the present study, glycyrrhizin (GM1292), a natural structural glycomimetic, was analyzed for the ability to decrease myocardial infarct size after regional myocardial ischemia/reperfusion [37].
• Interferon-gamma production in normal lymphocyte-macrophage cultures treated with 10 to 100 micrograms/ml of glycyrrhizin at 37 degrees C for 12 hr or longer, and then treated with 10 micrograms/ml of Con A, was enhanced four to eight times compared to control cell cultures [25].
• Recently, these short-term effects have been amplified by a well-conducted retrospective study suggesting that long-term usage of glycyrrhizin prevents development of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C [38].

References