Pharmaceutical Research & Innovations in Pharma Industry

This study investigates the effect of a herbal preparation (‘Goko’ Cleanser), on the pharmacokinetic profile of orally administered rifampicin in Swiss albino male rats. The in-vivo study was carried out in three phases. In phase, I only Rifampicin (20mg/kg body) was orally administered to rats and in phase II, rifampicin and Goko Cleanser (30ml/kg body weight) were concurrently administered and in phase III Goko Cleanser was administered for 6 days before Rifampicin. Blood samples were collected from rats in each group at 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 and 12hours in each phase and concentration determined by the spectrophotometric method. Pharmacokinetics parameters determined include Cmax, Tmax, t1/2α, ClT, AUC0-9, AUC 0-∞, t1/2β and kβ. The in-silico studies were done by docking molecules contained in the herbal cleanser into rifampicin binding site on the pregnane X receptor (PXR). The result showed rifampicin pharmacokinetics profile to be in line with previous reports. Goko Cleanser significantly (P<0.05, 0<0.01) increase the Cmax, Tmax, AUC0-9, AUC 0-∞, and t1/2β but decrease ClT, when administering concurrently with Rifampicin (Phase II). Goko Cleanser significantly (P<0.05) decrease the Cmax, Tmax, t1/2α, AUC0-9, AUC 0-∞, and t1/2β but increase ClT when Rifampicin was administered after 6days of taking Goko Cleanser (Phase III). In-silico docking results showed a significant interaction of Goko Cleanser constituents with active site binding residues and complex formation between constituents of Goko cleanser and rifampicin when administered together. Taking herbal preparations such as “Goko cleanser” with rifampicin at the same or within a week should be avoided.