In vitro assessment of the effect of antiepileptic drugs on expression and function of ABC transporters and their interactions with ABCC2

ABC transporters have a significant role in drug disposition and response and various studies have implicated their involvement in epilepsy pharmacoresistance. Since genetic studies till now are inconclusive, we thought of investigating the role of xenobiotics as transcriptional modulators of ABC transporters. Here, we investigated the effect of six antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) viz. phenytoin, carbamazepine, valproate, lamotrigine, topiramate and levetiracetam, on the expression and function of ABCB1, ABCC1, ABCC2 and ABCG2 in Caco2 and HepG2 cell lines through real time PCR, western blot and functional activity assays. Further, the interaction of AEDs with maximally induced ABCC2 was studied. Carbamazepine caused a significant induction in expression of ABCB1 and ABCC2 in HepG2 and Caco2 cells, both at the transcript and protein level, together with increased functional activity. Valproate caused a significant increase in the expression and functional activity of ABCB1 in HepG2 only. No significant effect of phenytoin, lamotrigine, topiramate and levetiracetam on the transporters under study was observed in either of the cell lines. We demonstrated the interaction of carbamazepine and valproate with ABCC2 with ATPase and 5,6-carboxyfluorescein inhibition assays. Thus, altered functionality of ABCB1 and ABCC2 can affect the disposition and bioavailability of administered drugs, interfering with AED therapy.