Analysis of the inhibitory activity of Abeliophyllum distichum leaf constituents against aldose reductase by using high-speed counter current chromatography.

We isolated five phenolic glycosides (acteoside, eutigoside B, isoacteoside, rutin and cornoside) from Abeliophyllum distichum leaves by high-speed counter current chromatography (HSCCC) using a solvent system of ethyl acetate:n-butanol:water (8:0.7:5). We determined the purity of the 5 compounds by high-performance liquid chromatography, and confirmed their chemical structures by using nuclear magnetic resonance data. We examined the inhibitory effect of these compounds on rat lens aldose reductase. Among these compounds, acteoside (1) showed the most potent inhibitory effect, with an IC₅₀ value of 1.39 μM. The inhibitory effect of 1 was 5.0 times greater than that of quercetin (7.05 μM), which was used as a positive control. These results suggest that acteoside may be a promising agent for the prevention or treatment of diabetic complications. Moreover, HSCCC is a promising method for the isolation and purification of biologically active compounds from natural products.