lignans and formononetin

A rapid, sensitive and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for simultaneous quantification of the five main bioactive components, calycosin, calycosin-7-O-β-d-glucoside, formononetin, astragaloside IV and schisandrin in rat plasma after oral administration of Shenqi Wuwei chewable tablets. Plasma samples were extracted using solid-phase extraction separated on a CEC18 column and detected by MS with an electrospray ionization interface in multiple-reaction monitoring mode. Calibration curves offered linear ranges of two orders of magnitude with r > 0.995. The method had a lower limit of quantitation of 0.1, 0.02, 0.1, 1 and 0.1 ng/mL for calycosin, calycosin-7-O-β-d-glucoside, formononetin, astragaloside IV and schisandrin, respectively. Intra- and inter-day precisions (relative standard deviation) for all analytes ranged from 0.97 to 7.63% and from 3.45 to 10.89%, respectively. This method was successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of the five compounds in rats after oral administration of Shenqi Wuwei chewable tablets.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Cyclooctanes; Drug Stability; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Glucosides; Isoflavones; Lignans; Linear Models; Male; Polycyclic Compounds; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reproducibility of Results; Saponins; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tablets; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Triterpenes

Dietary phytoestrogens are metabolized or converted in the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, only limited knowledge exists on the extent and location of this conversion in vivo. The objective of this study was to quantify the gastro-intestinal metabolism of phytoestrogens in lactating dairy cows fed silages with different botanical composition. Four lactating rumen cannulated Norwegian Red cattle were assigned to a 4 × 4 Latin square with 1 cow per treatment period of 3 wk. The 4 treatment silages were prepared from grasslands with different botanical compositions: organically managed short-term timothy (Phleum pratense L.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) ley (2 yr old: ORG-SG); organically managed long-term grassland with a high proportion of unsown species (6 yr old; ORG-LG); conventionally managed perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) ley (CON-PR); and conventionally managed timothy ley (CON-TI). The herbages were cut, wilted, and preserved with additive in round bales, fed as a mix of the first and third cut at 90% of ad libitum intake, and contributed to 70% of the total dry matter intake. Milk, feed, omasal digesta, urine, and feces were collected at the end of each period and analyzed for the concentrations of phytoestrogens by using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry technique. Concentration of total isoflavones was highest in ORG-SG and lowest in CON-TI silage, whereas the content of total lignans was highest in the grass silages. The isoflavones were extensively metabolized in the rumen on all diets, and the recovery of formononetin and daidzein in omasum, mainly as equol, averaged 0.11 mg/mg. The apparent intestinal metabolism was less severe as, on average, 0.29 mg/mg of the omasal flow was recovered in feces. The plant lignans were also strongly degraded in the rumen. However, the flow of lignans to omasum and excretion in feces were, on average, 7.2- and 5.2-fold higher, respectively, than the intake of the plant lignans matairesinol and secoisolariciresinol, known as precursors of mammalian lignans. Thus, excretion to milk could not be directly related to intake, implying that plant lignans other than matairesinol and secoisolariciresinol in forage are precursors for enterolactone production in the rumen and for its content in milk. Equol followed mainly the flow of large particles out of the rumen, whereas the mammalian lignans were distributed between phases proportional to dry matter flow. The main metabolism of

Topics: Animals; Cattle; Chromatography, Liquid; Diet; Feces; Female; Furans; Isoflavones; Lactation; Lignans; Lolium; Mass Spectrometry; Milk; Omasum; Phleum; Phytoestrogens; Poaceae; Rumen; Silage; Trifolium

One alkyl glycoside, saussurostelloside A (1), two phenolic glycosides, saussurostellosides B1 (2) and B2 (3), and 27 known compounds, including eleven flavonoids, seven phenolics, six lignans, one neolignan, one phenethyl glucoside and one fatty acid, were isolated from an ethanol extract of Saussurea stella (Asteraceae). Their structures were elucidated by NMR, MS, UV, and IR spectroscopic analysis. Of the known compounds, (+)-medioresinol-di-O-β-D-glucoside (7), picraquassioside C (10), and diosmetin-3'-O-β-D-glucoside (27) were isolated from the Asteraceae family for the first time, while (+)-pinoresinol-di-O-β-D-glucoside (6), di-O-methylcrenatin (11), protocatechuic acid (14), 1,5-di-O-caffeoylquinic acid (17), formononetin (28), and phenethyl glucoside (29) were isolated from the Saussurea genus for the first time. The anti-inflammatory activities of three new compounds (1-3), five lignans ((-)-arctiin (4), (+)-pinoresinol-4-O-β-D-glucoside (5), (+)-pinoresinol-di-O-β-D-glucoside (6), (+)-medioresinol-di-O-β-D-glucoside (7) and (+)-syringaresinol-4-O-β-D-glucoside (8)), one neolignan (picraquassioside C (10)), and one phenolic glycoside (di-O-methylcrenatin (11)) were evaluated by testing their inhibition of the release of β-glucuronidase from PAF-stimulated neutrophils. Only compound 5 showed moderate inhibition of the release of β-glucuronidase, with an inhibition ratio of 39.1%.

Topics: Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Coumaric Acids; Disaccharides; Female; Flavonoids; Furans; Glucosides; Glucuronidase; Glycosides; Hydroxybenzoates; Inflammation; Isoflavones; Lignans; Male; Molecular Structure; Neutrophils; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Platelet Activating Factor; Quinic Acid; Rats, Wistar; Saussurea

Investigation of the constituents of Pycnanthus angolensis roots has resulted in the isolation of four new cyclolignene derivatives, named pycnanthulignene A (1), pycnanthulignene B (2), pycnanthulignene C (3), and pycnanthulignene D (4), and six known compounds, 4,5-dimethoxy-3',4'-methylenedioxy-2,7'-cycloligna-7,7'-diene, 2,7-dimethoxy-3,6-dimethylnaphthalene, 4'-methoxy-4,5-methylenedioxy-2,7'-cyclolign-7-ene, genkwainin, 8-hydroxykanzakiflavone-2, and formononetin. The structures of these compounds were established using spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1 and 3 showed significant antimicrobial activities against a panel of drug-resistant pathogens.

Topics: Anti-Infective Agents; Cameroon; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Isoflavones; Lignans; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Molecular Structure; Myristicaceae; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; Plant Roots

In an international context of promoting scientific research on food safety, the interest in molecules having potential hormonal disrupting effects is growing. While industrial endocrine disruptors (phthalates, alkylphenols, PCBs, etc.) have been studied for several years, natural compounds like phytoestrogens remain less investigated. Accordingly, a research project was initiated with its main objectives to develop efficient analytical methods for a wide range of phytoestrogens in various food matrices, and to evaluate their occurrence in food products. Electrospray ionization with tandem mass spectrometric (MS/MS) analysis of isoflavones (genistein, daidzein, equol, formononetin, biochanin A), lignans (enterolactone, enterodiol), and coumestans (coumestrol) was investigated. This study revealed the formation of a large number of fragment ions in both positive and negative modes, corresponding to specific cleavages of the hydroxyl, carbonyl, and/or methoxy groups, and to Retro-Diels-Alder reactions. An LC/ESI-MS/MS method was developed consistent with the 2002/657/EC European decision criteria. An extraction and clean-up method was developed for milk samples. The identification limit for the proposed method appears to be under 1 ng/mL. The developed methodology was applied to various milk samples, and the occurrence of isoflavones (particularly equol) was demonstrated in the concentration range 1-30 ng/mL. The efficiency of the proposed analytical method permitted evaluation of a new and promising approach to a global risk assessment of natural estrogenic active substances including phytoestrogens and their metabolites.

Topics: 4-Butyrolactone; Animals; Cattle; Chromans; Chromatography, Liquid; Coumestrol; Equol; Estrogens, Non-Steroidal; Genistein; Ions; Isoflavones; Lignans; Milk; Molecular Structure; Phytoestrogens; Plant Preparations; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization