kurarinone and vexibinol

Topics: Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Flavanones; Flavonoids; Rats; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Zhixue capsule is a prescription for hemorrhoid commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. This drug was recalled by the State Food and Drug Administration in 2008 because of severe adverse hepatic reactions. Zhixue capsule is composed of ethanol extracts of Cortex Dictamni (ECD) and Sophora flavescens (ESF). In our preliminary study, we observed the hepatotoxic effects of ESF on rat primary hepatocytes. However, ECD did not exhibit hepatotoxicity at the same concentration range. In this study, ESF was evaluated for its potential hepatotoxic effects on rats. Bioassay-guided isolation was used to identify the material basis for hepatotoxicity. Treatment with 1.25 g/kg and 2.5 g/kg ESF significantly elevated the alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels in the serum. The changes in the levels of transaminases were supported by the remarkable fatty degeneration of liver histopathology. Further investigations using bioassay-guided isolation and analysis indicated that prenylated flavanones accounted for the positive hepatotoxic results. Two isolated compounds were identified, kurarinone and sophoraflavanone G, using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry techniques. These compounds have potent toxic effects on primary rat hepatocytes (with IC50 values of 29.9 μM and 16.5 μM) and human HL-7702 liver cells (with IC50 values of 48.2 μM and 40.3 μM), respectively. Consequently, the hepatotoxic constituents of S. flavescens were determined to be prenylated flavanones, kurarinone, and sophoraflavanone G.

Topics: Alanine Transaminase; Animals; Aspartate Aminotransferases; Biological Assay; Cell Survival; Ethanol; Flavanones; Flavonoids; Hepatocytes; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Male; Mass Spectrometry; Plant Extracts; Plant Roots; Prenylation; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Rats, Wistar; Sophora

Five compounds were obtained from the stems and leaves of Sophora flavescens Ait. and ten compounds were obtained from the roots of S. flavescens by various chromatography methods including silica gel column chromatography and preparative HPLC. Their structures were identified on the basis of spectroscopic methods including 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and ESI-MS, as corchionoside C (1), syringing (2), 2'-deoxythymidin (3), coniferin (4), benzyl O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (5), piscidic acid (6), trifolirhizin (7), kurarinone (8), trifolirhizin-6'-monoacetate (9), sophoraflavanone G (10), isoxanthohumol (11), noranhydroicaritin (12), 4'-methoxyisoflavone-7-O-beta-D-apiofuranosyl-(1 --> 6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (13), kushenol O (14) and 6"-beta-D-xylopyranosylgenistin (15). Compounds 1-6 were isolated from the Sophora genus for the first time.

Topics: Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Flavanones; Flavonoids; Glucosides; Heterocyclic Compounds, 4 or More Rings; Mass Spectrometry; Molecular Structure; Plant Roots; Sophora

Airborne biological particles containing viruses, bacteria, and/or fungi can be toxic and cause infections and allergy symptoms. Recently, natural materials such as tea tree oil and Sophora flavescens have shown promising antimicrobial activity when applied as air filter media. Although many of these studies demonstrated excellent antimicrobial efficacy, only a few of them considered external environmental effects such as the surrounding humidity, temperature, and natural degradation of chemicals, all of which can affect the antimicrobial performance of these natural materials. In this study, we investigated the antimicrobial durability of air filters containing airborne nanoparticles from S. flavescens for 5 months. Antimicrobial tests and quantitative chemical analyses were performed every 30 days. Morphological changes in the nanoparticles were also evaluated by scanning electron microscopy. The major antimicrobial compounds remained stable and active for ~90 days at room temperature. After about 90 days, the quantities of major antimicrobial compounds decreased noticeably with a consequent decrease in antimicrobial activity. These results are promising for the implementation of new technologies using natural antimicrobial products and provide useful information regarding the average life expectancy of antimicrobial filters using nanoparticles of S. flavescens.

Topics: Air Filters; Anti-Infective Agents; Chalcones; Equipment Design; Escherichia coli; Flavanones; Flavonoids; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Monoterpenes; Nanoparticles; Plant Extracts; Sophora; Staphylococcus epidermidis; Temperature

Drynaria fortunei (Kunze) J. Sm. is a traditional Chinese herb used for the treatment of osteoporosis and other bone metabolic disorders. Previous studies demonstrated that "small polar active fraction in Drynaria fortunei (SDF)"exerted osteoprotective effects in ovariectomized (OVX) mice. This study aims to investigate the constituents in SDF and systemically evaluate their osteogenic effects in vitro. Five flavonoid aglycones, naringenin, kurarinone, kushennol F, xanthogalenol, and sophoraflavanone G were identified in SDF. All the compounds did not show effects on proliferation of osteoblastic UMR 106 cells at the concentrations of 0.1-1000 nM, but significantly increased the ALP activity of the cells at most of the concentrations from 10 nm to 1000 nM. Xanthogalenol at the concentration of 100 nM significantly increased concentration of acid-solubilized calcium. ICI 182,780, antagonist of estrogen receptor (ER), diminished the effect of kushennol F on ALP activity and the effect of xanthogalenol on acid-solubilized calcium. In conclusion, flavonoid aglycones in SDF could promote differentiation and mineralization of osteoblastic UMR 106 cells in vitro, which was explained by activation of ER signaling pathway. This study provides scientific evidences for the conduction of in vivo experiments to confirm potential effects of flavonoid aglycones on preventing OVX-induced osteoporosis.

Topics: Alkaline Phosphatase; Animals; Calcification, Physiologic; Calcium; Cell Line; Cell Proliferation; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Durapatite; Flavanones; Flavonoids; Osteoblasts; Polypodiaceae; Rats; Rhizome

The objectives of this study were to investigate the radical-scavenging activity and protective potential of Sophora flavescens from oxidative damage by the radical generator 2,2'-azobis(2-amidinopropane)dihydrochloride (AAPH) in renal epithelial LLC-PK(1) cells and to identify the active components using the bioassay-linked fractionation method. The MeOH extract and fractions of CH(2)Cl(2), BuOH, and H(2)O from S. flavescens showed 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging effects in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.01),whereas only the BuOH and CH(2)Cl(2) fractions showed protective effects against LLC-PK(1) cellular damage induced by AAPH in a dose-dependent manner (p<0.01). In particular, the BuOH fraction had the most effective (p<0.05) antioxidative capacity. Employing a bioassay-linked HPLC/MS method, the active constituents from the BuOH fraction of S. flavescens were isolated and characterized as sophoraflavanone G and kurarinone with potent antioxidant effects against the DPPH radical, with IC(50) values of 5.26 and 7.73 microg/ml, respectively. Moreover, the compounds dose dependently recovered cell viability decreased by AAPH treatment (p<0.01), suggesting their protective roles against cellular oxidative damage. The results of this study suggest that S. flavescens has excellent antioxidative and kidney-protective potential and that flavonoids from S. flavescens, i.e., sophoraflavanone G and kurarinone, are the active constituents.

Topics: Amidines; Animals; Antioxidants; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Flavanones; Flavonoids; LLC-PK1 Cells; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Mass Spectrometry; Plant Extracts; Sophora