sulfuretin and butin

The Rhus verniciflua Stokes (RVS) extract is used as a traditional herbal medicine in Southeast Asian countries such as Korea and China. In the present study, one phenolic acid and six flavonoids were isolated from an 80% ethanol RVS extract to examine their antimicrobial activities. These compounds were identified as 3',4',7-trihydroxyflavone (1), methyl gallate (2), gallic acid (3), fusti (4), fisetin (5), butin (6), and sulfuretin (7) by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The antimicrobial activities of compounds 5 and 6 (at a dose of 16 μg/mL each) were superior to that of the control, cycloheximide (at a dose of 25 μg/mL), against Hypocrea nigricans; additionally, the activities of compounds 1 and 2 (at a dose of 8 μg/mL each) were superior to the control against Penicillium oxalicum. Also, chemical compounds 1 and 5 (at a dose of 16 μg/mL each) had higher activities than the control (25 μg/mL) against Trichoderma virens. Chemical compound 1 (at a dose of 8 μg/mL) had a similar activity to that of the control against Bacillus subtilis. The obtained results suggest that the RVS extract could be a promising food and nutraceutical source because of the antimicrobial properties of its phenolic compounds.

Topics: Anti-Infective Agents; Bacillus subtilis; Benzofurans; Benzopyrans; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Flavonoids; Gallic Acid; Hypocrea; Rhus; Trichoderma

Ethyl acetate fraction (EAF) from Rhus verniciflua Stokes is an important source of bioactive compounds. The aim of this study was the tentative identification and quantification of phenolic compounds, comparison of the phenolic structure-antioxidant activity relationships. Twelve compounds of EAF belonging to polyphenol types were detected by high performance liquid chromatography and analysed on line with negative ion electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry, which were ethoxy 3-hydroxy benzoic acid, gallic acid (GA), 3,4-dihydroxy amygdalic acid, gallic acid cetyl ester, protocatechuic acid (PA), fustin, ethyl gallate (EG), garbanzol, fisetin, sulfuretin, butin and 3,7-dihydroxyflavanone-4'-rhamnoside. The antioxidant activity were evaluated based on the different types of radical scavenging capacities, i.e. DPPH·, ABTS·+ and OH. The antioxidant capacity of EAF mainly depended on the GA, EG, PA, fisetin, sulfuretin and butin. The phenolics exhibited a dose-dependent behaviour and high antioxidant ability.

Topics: Acetates; Antioxidants; Benzofurans; Benzopyrans; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Flavonoids; Flavonols; Free Radical Scavengers; Phenols; Plant Extracts; Rhus; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

Rhus verniciflua Stokes has been used as a traditional herbal medicine in Asia. In this study, the effect of R. verniciflua extract on human aromatase (cytochrome P450 19, CYP19) activity was investigated to elucidate the mechanism for the effect of R. verniciflua extract on androgen hormone levels. Androstenedione was used as a substrate and incubated with R. verniciflua extract in cDNA-expressed CYP19 supersomes in the presence of NADPH, and estrone formation was measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. R. verniciflua extract was assessed at concentrations of 10-1000 μg/mL. The resulting data showed that R. verniciflua extract inhibited CYP19-mediated estrone formation in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 136 μg/mL. Subsequently, polyphenolic compounds from R. verniciflua extract were tested to identify the ingredients responsible for the aromatase inhibitory effects by R. verniciflua extract. As a result, butin showed aromatase inhibitory effect in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC50 value of 9.6 μM, whereas the inhibition by other compounds was negligible. These results suggest that R. verniciflua extract could modulate androgen hormone levels via the inhibition of CYP19 activity and butin is a major ingredient responsible for this activity.

Topics: Aromatase; Aromatase Inhibitors; Benzopyrans; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Humans; Medicine, Traditional; Molecular Structure; Plant Extracts; Plant Structures; Rhus; Structure-Activity Relationship