Combined Risk Assessment of Food-derived Coumarin with <i>in Silico</i> Approaches.
Food Saf (Tokyo) 2022;
10:73-82. [PMID:
36237397 PMCID:
PMC9509535 DOI:
10.14252/foodsafetyfscj.d-21-00015]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Hepatotoxicity associated with food-derived coumarin occurs occasionally in humans. We
have, herein, assessed the data of existing clinical and nonclinical studies as well as
those of in silico models for humans in order to shed more light on this
association. The average intakes of food-derived coumarin are estimated to be 1−3 mg/day,
while a ten-times higher level is expected in the worst-case scenarios. These levels are
close to or above the tolerable daily intake suggested by a chronic study in dogs. The
human internal exposure levels were estimated by a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic
model with the use of virtual doses of coumarin in the amounts expected to derive from
foods. Our results suggest that: (i) coumarin can be cleared rapidly via
7-hydroxylation in humans, and (ii) the plasma levels of coumarin and of its metabolite,
o-hydroxyphenylacetic acid associated with hepatotoxicity, are
considerably lower than those yielding hepatotoxicity in rats. Pharmacokinetic data
suggest a low or negligible concern regarding a coumarin-induced hepatotoxicity in humans
exposed to an average intake from foods. Detoxification of coumarin through the
7-hydroxylation, however, might vary among individuals due to genetic polymorphisms in
CYP2A6 enzyme. In addition, the CYP1A2- and CYP2E1-mediated activation of coumarin can
fluctuate as a result of induction caused by environmental factors. Furthermore, the daily
consumption of food-contained coumarin was implicated in the potential risk of
hepatotoxicity by the drug-induced liver injury score model developed by the US Food and
Drug Administration. These results support the idea of the existence of human
subpopulations that are highly sensitive to coumarin; therefore, a more precise risk
assessment is needed. The present study also highlights the usefulness of in
silico approaches of pharmacokinetics with the liver injury score model as
battery components of a risk assessment.
Collapse