Skip to main content
. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2014 Jun 1.
Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2013 May 13;17(3):379–384. doi: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2013.04.011

Figure 1.

Figure 1

A. The anticancer drug CPT-11 (Irinotecan) is a prodrug activated to the DNA topoisomerase I poison SN-38 by esterases, and SN-38 is further processed to its SN-38 glucuronide (SN-38G) metabolite by UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes. Excreted SN-38G is reactivated in the large intestines by bacterial microbiota β-glucuronidase enzymes; lumenal SN-38 contributes to the dose-limiting diarrhea associated with CPT-11 [29]**. B. Potent, selective and non-lethal bacterial β-glucuronidase inhibitors prevent the diarrhea and intestinal damage caused by the reactivation of SN-38G to SN-38 [29]**.