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DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1352247
Bioassay-directed isolation of phytoestrogens from Eucommia ulmoides
Recently, phytoestrogens have drawn growing attention, as increasing evidence reaveled a possible role in preventing a number of diseases, such as the hormonally dependent cancers. Some secondary metabolites from plants may act as excellent natural phytoestrogens [1]. Eucommia ulmoides, the sole species of the Eucommia genus (Eucommiaceae), is a large medicinal hardwood native to China and now distributed widely in South Korea and China. The tree has extensively been used in Korean and Chinese medicines as a tonic to treat diabetics, lower blood pressure, prevent fatigue and miscarriage, and strengthen the liver and kidneys [2]. In this work, the MeOH extracts of the E. ulmoides root were successively fractionated into n-hexane, CH2Cl2, EtOAc, n-BuOH and the remaining H2O fractions. The n-BuOH soluble fraction, which showed significant phytoestrogenic activity, by phytoestrogenic activity-directed column chromatography was subdivided to yield five phenolics, including kaempferol, quercetin, apigenin, naringenin and ellagic acid. The structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated on basis of spectroscopic methods. The phytoestrogenic properties of the constituents were determined by an assay with the human cortical cell line HCN 1-A [3]. This study demonstrates that the five phenolics from E. ulmoides root might be valuable candidates for the development of phytoestrogenic drugs.
References:
[1] Cornwell T. et al. (2004) Phytochemistry 65: 995 – 1016.
[2] Si CL, et al. (2011) Planta Med 77: 1338 – 1338.
[3] Occhiuto F. et al. (2008) Phytomedicine 15: 676 – 682.
Acknowledgements: This work was financed by National Natural Science Foundation of China (31170541, 31000279), Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City (13JCZDJC), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-10 – 0951), Foundation (2012IM002) of Key Lab of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of Ministry of Education & Tianjin Key Lab of Industrial Microbiology, China.