Medical researchers have known for some time that eating a grapefruit-or drinking a glass of grapefruit juice-can dramatically increase the effects of certain common drugs. But no one knew why. Now researchers at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, led by internist Paul B. Watkins, have identified compounds in grapefruits called furanocoumarins that explain grapefruit’s mysterious power.
Furanocoumarins work by blocking an enzyme (CYP3A4) that chews up certain chemicals in the intestine-as well as some drugs. Physicians don’t recommend washing down pills with grapefruit juice because the effect varies from person to person. But the discovery of the compounds responsible for grapefruit’s powers could provide critical clues to increasing the absorption of drugs. And that could mean patients would need far lower doses of some extremely expensive drugs.
That’s the goal of researchers at AvMax, a two-year-old biotech company in Berkeley, Calif. The company, which holds a patent on the furanocoumarins and boasts Watkins as a scientific advisor, is using furanocoumarins as a model to design ways to block the enzyme temporarily.
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