In vivo pharmacokinetics of hesperidin are affected by treatment with glucosidase-like BglA protein isolated from yeasts

Hesperidin is an abundant flavanone glycoside in citrus fruits and has been reported to possess a wide range of biological activities. However, hesperidin has poor bioavailability. Here, we tested the hypothesis that hesperetin found in chenpi will have a better bioavailability than hesperidin and that treatment of hesperidin with the glucosidase-like yeast BglA protein will increase its bioavailability. The results indicate that hesperidin in pure or extract form is hydrolyzed by BglA protein extracted from Sporobolomyces singularis or expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3). This biotransformation affected the plasma pharmacokinetics of total hesperetin in rats, in that the plasma T-max was significantly shorter after administration of BglA protein-treated hesperidin than after administration of hesperidin extract. In addition, the area under the curve values for total hesperetin after administration of BglA-treated hesperidin were similar to 4-fold higher by oral administration and 3-fold higher by intravenous administration, respectively. In contrast, the plasma clearance value and volume of distribution after administration of BglA-treated hesperidin extract or pure hesperetin were significantly smaller than after administration of untreated hesperidin extract or pure hesperidin. This is the first study that systemically determines the absolute bioavailability of hesperidin and hesperetin simultaneously, shows clearly that hesperetin is more bioavailable than hesperidin regardless of the route of administration, and shows that prior transformation of hesperidin to hesperetin via fermentation should significantly increase its bioavailability because of the action of the yeast glycosidase-like protein BglA.