Research of Natural Product Laboratory, School of Chemical Engineering, Instituto Politecnico Nacional, Mexico DF.
Pharm Biol. 2011 Nov;49(11):1121-7. doi: 10.3109/13880209.2011.570766.
Prosthechea michuacana W.E. Higgins (LaLlave & Lex) (Orchidaceae) is an orchid that has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammation, diabetes, wound, and liver disorders. Therefore, we thought it would be worthwhile to study the effect of this orchid on liver damage using mice as model.
The present study investigates the effect of flavonoids isolated from methanol extract of P. michuacana on carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))-induced liver damage in mice.
The methanol extract was purified by repeated column chromatography, resulting in the identification of five metabolites whose hepatoprotective effects were evaluated by measuring aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, glutamate, total bilirubin level, lactate dehydrogenase, total serum protein, and lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay) in CCl(4)-induced hepatic injury in mice.
From the bulbs of P. michuacana, four known flavonoids were isolated (scutellarein 6-methyl ether, dihydroquercetin, apigenin 7-O-glucoside, and apigenin-7-neohesperidoside), together with the new flavonol glycoside apigenin-6-O-β-D-glucopyranosil-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside. Their structures were characterized by 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. Treatment with flavonoids significantly prevented the biochemical measurable changes induced by CCl(4) in the liver. Compounds 1, 4, and 5 were found to exhibit good hepatoprotective effect. These effects were comparable to that of the standard drug silymarin, a well-known hepatoprotective agent.
These results demonstrate that flavonoids contained in the bulbs of P. michuacana contribute to the hepatoprotective activity attributed to the plant.
Prosthechea michuacana W.E. Higgins（LaLlave & Lex）（兰科）是一种兰花，在传统医学中用于治疗炎症、糖尿病、创伤和肝脏疾病。因此，我们认为研究这种兰花对使用小鼠作为模型的肝损伤的影响是值得的。
本研究调查了甲醇提取物中分离的类黄酮对四氯化碳（CCl 4 ）诱导的小鼠肝损伤的影响。
甲醇提取物通过反复柱层析进行纯化，鉴定了 5 种代谢产物，通过测量天冬氨酸转氨酶、丙氨酸转氨酶、碱性磷酸酶、谷氨酸、总胆红素水平、乳酸脱氢酶、总血清蛋白和脂质过氧化（硫代巴比妥酸反应物质测定法）来评估其对 CCl 4 诱导的肝损伤的保护作用。
从 P. michuacana 的鳞茎中分离出 4 种已知的类黄酮（山奈黄素 6-甲醚、二氢槲皮素、芹菜素 7-O-葡萄糖苷和芹菜素-7-新橙皮苷），以及新的黄酮醇糖苷芹菜素-6-O-β-D-吡喃葡萄糖基-3-O-α-L-鼠李吡喃糖苷。通过 1D 和 2D 核磁共振实验对其结构进行了表征。类黄酮处理显著防止了 CCl 4 引起的肝生化变化。化合物 1、4 和 5 显示出良好的保肝作用。这些作用与标准药物水飞蓟素相当，水飞蓟素是一种众所周知的保肝剂。
这些结果表明，P. michuacana 鳞茎中含有的类黄酮有助于植物的保肝活性。
