Radix Puerariae Research Articles

Comparison between Chinese medical herb Pueraria lobata crude extract and its main isoflavone puerarin : Antioxidant properties and effects on rat liver CYP-catalysed drug metabolism

Ge-gen ( Radix Puerariae; RP) is used in traditional oriental medicine for various medicinal purposes. The drug is the root of a wild leguminous creeper, Pueraria lobata (Willd) Ohwi. It possesses a high content of flavonoid derivatives, the most abundant of which is puerarin (PU). Here, using the enhanced chemiluminescence technique based on horseradish peroxidase and a luminol-oxidant-enhancer reagent, we evaluated in vitro the antioxidant activity of PU and RP crude extract. Both biological samples inhibited the steady-state chemiluminescent reaction in a dose-dependent fashion. However, different inhibition mechanism were postulated, since only RP behaved like conventional antioxidants. This activity was supposed to be due the presence of compounds other than PU in the crude extract. Using each of the specific substrates to different cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoforms or the regio- and stereo-selective hydroxylation of testosterone as polyfunctional probe we found that when intragastrically administered in male Wistar rats, PU (100 or 200 mg/kg b.w.) and RP (700 or 1,400 mg/kg b.w.) significantly altered hepatic CYP-linked monooxygenases. While both CYP content and NADPH-(CYP)-c-reductase activity were significantly increased in all situations, a complex pattern of CYP modulation was observed, including both induction (PU: CYP2A1, 1A1/2, 3A1, 2C11; RP: CYP1A2, 3A1, 2B1) and inactivation (PU and RP: CYP3A, 2E1, 2B1), the latter being due to either parental agents or metabolites, as demonstrated by in vitro studies. Overall, these findings indicate that RP contains compounds with potent antioxidant activity and that both PU and RP impairs CYP-catalysed drug metabolism.

Daidzin and its antidipsotropic analogs inhibit serotonin and dopamine metabolism in isolated mitochondria.

Daidzin, a major active principle of an ancient Chinese herbal treatment (Radix puerariae) for alcohol abuse, selectively suppresses ethanol intake in all rodent models tested. It also inhibits mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2). Studies on ethanol intake suppression and ALDH-2 inhibition by structural analogs of daidzin established a link between these two activities and suggested that daidzin may suppress ethanol intake by inhibiting ALDH-2. ALDH-2 is a principal enzyme involved in serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) metabolism. Thus, daidzin may act by inhibiting 5-HT and DA metabolism. To evaluate this possibility, we have studied the effect of daidzin and its analogs on 5-HT and DA metabolism in isolated hamster and rat liver mitochondria. Daidzin potently inhibits the formation of 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetic acid (5-HIAA) and 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) from their respective amines in isolated mitochondria. Inhibition is concentration-dependent and is accompanied by a concomitant accumulation of 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetaldehyde and 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde. Daidzin analogs that suppress hamster ethanol intake also inhibit 5-HIAA and DOPAC formation. Comparing their effects on mitochondria-catalyzed 5-HIAA or DOPAC formation and hamster ethanol intake reveals a positive correlation-the stronger the inhibition on 5-HIAA or DOPAC formation, the greater the ethanol intake suppression. Daidzin and its active analogs, at concentrations that significantly inhibit 5-HIAA formation, have little or no effect on mitochondria-catalyzed 5-HT depletion. It appears that the antidipsotropic action of daidzin is not mediated by 5-HT (or DA) but rather by its reactive intermediates 5-hydroxyindole-3-acetaldehyde and, presumably, 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylacetaldehyde as well, which accumulates in the presence of daidzin.

Effect of Pueraria lobata (wild) on ethanol intake of alcohol‐preferring rats

The present study evaluated the effect of intraperitoneal injections of crude extracts of Radix pueraria (RP) on ethanol intake in genetically selected alcohol-preferring rats. Water and food sated rats were offered 10% ethanol intake for 10 h/day, during the dark phase of an inverse light-dark cycle. RP extracts reduced ethanol intake in alcohol-preferring rats. However, the dose of 75 mg/100 g body weight, that produced only minor behavioural alterations and did not modify total fluid intake, elicited only a modest attenuation (about 20%) of ethanol consumption. A more pronounced inhibition of ethanol intake was obtained following 150 and 300 mg/100 g, but these doses induced marked alterations of the gross behaviour in treated rats, which were rather immobile and apparently in a condition of malaise at least during the first hour after drug administration. Moreover, 150 mg/100 g produced a general inhibition of the ingestive behaviour, as shown by the finding that it inhibited water intake in water deprived rats and food deprived rats. Pronounced alterations on the gross behaviour were evident also in deprived rats, which were not offered 10% ethanol, thus indicating that they cannot be accounted for by an effect of RP on ethanol metabolism. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The medical value of Radix Puerariae and puerarin in treating diseases of the cardiovascular system

The medical value of Radix Puerariae and puerarin in treating diseases of the cardiovascular system

Daidzin inhibits mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase and suppresses ethanol intake of Syrian golden hamsters.

Daidzin is the major active principle in extracts of radix puerariae, a traditional Chinese medication that suppresses the ethanol intake of Syrian golden hamsters. It is the first isoflavone recognized to have this effect. Daidzin is also a potent and selective inhibitor of human mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-2). To establish a link between these two activities, we have tested a series of synthetic structural analogs of daidzin. The results demonstrate a direct correlation between ALDH-2 inhibition and ethanol intake suppression and raise the possibility that daidzin may, in fact, suppress ethanol intake of golden hamsters by inhibiting ALDH-2. Hamster liver contains not only mitochondrial ALDH-2 but also high concentrations of a cytosolic form, ALDH-1, which is a very efficient catalyst of acetaldehyde oxidation. Further, the cytosolic isozyme is completely resistant to daidzin inhibition. This unusual property of the hamster ALDH-1 isozyme accounts for the fact we previously observed that daidzin can suppress ethanol intake of this species without blocking acetaldehyde metabolism. Thus, the mechanism by which daidzin suppresses ethanol intake in golden hamsters clearly differs from that proposed for the classic ALDH inhibitor disulfiram. We postulate that a physiological pathway catalyzed by ALDH-2, so far undefined, controls ethanol intake of golden hamsters and mediates the antidipsotropic effect of daidzin.

Potentiation of the bioavailability of daidzin by an extract of Radix puerariae.

The dose effect of pure daidzin on the suppression of ethanol intake in Syrian golden hamsters was compared with that of crude daidzin contained in a methanol extract of Radix puerariae (RP). EC50 values estimated from the graded dose-response curves for pure daidzin and RP extract daidzin are 23 and 2.3 mg per hamster per day, respectively. Apparently the antidipsotropic activity of the RP extract cannot be accounted for solely by its daidzin content (22 mg/g). In addition to daidzin, six other isoflavones were identified in the RP extract and quantified--namely, puerarin (160 mg per g of extract), genistin (3.7 mg/g), daidzein (2.6 mg/g), daidzein-4',7-diglucoside (1.2 mg/g), genistein (0.2 mg/g), and formononetin (0.16 mg/g). None of these, administered either alone or combined, contributes in any significant way to the antidipsotropic activity of the extract. Plasma daidzin concentration-time curves determined in hamsters administered various doses of pure daidzin or RP extract by i.p.injection indicate that the crude extract daidzin has approximately 10 times greater bioavailability than the pure compound. Reconstruction of the dose-response effects for pure and crude daidzin using bioavailable daidzin rather than administered dose gives a single curve. Synthetic daidzin added to the RP extract acquires the bioavailability of the endogenous daidzin that exists naturally in the extract. These results show that (i) daidzin is the major active principle in methanol extracts of RP, and (ii) additional constituents in the methanol extract of RP assist uptake of daidzin in golden hamsters.

Biochemical studies of a new class of alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitors from Radix puerariae.

Two potent, reversible inhibitors of human alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) isozymes were isolated from Radix puerariae (RP, commonly known as kudzu root) and identified as the isoflavones diadzein and genistein. The 4'-methoxy derivatives of daidzein (trivial name, formononetin) and genistein (biochanin A), minor constituents of RP, were also shown to be ADH inhibitors. All of these isoflavones inhibit the human gamma 2 gamma 2-ADH isozyme competitively with respect to ethanol and uncompetitively with respect to NAD+. A survey of more than 40 structurally related compounds revealed one more isoflavone (prunetin) and four flavones (7-hydroxyflavone, apigenin, galangin, and kaempferol) that inhibit ADH. The isoflavone inhibitors, however, are far more potent than the flavone inhibitors. Among the isoflavones studied, genistein is the most potent with Ki = 0.1 microM toward gamma 2 gamma 2-ADH. Human ADH isozymes differ in their sensitivity to these inhibitors in the order gamma 2 gamma 2-, gamma 1 gamma 1- > alpha alpha-, pi pi- > chi chi-ADH. These inhibitors do not affect the beta 1 beta 1- and beta 2 beta 2-ADH isozymes at concentrations as high as 20 microM. Rat and rabbit class I ADHs are also inhibited by these isoflavone inhibitors. The 7-O-glucosyl derivatives of daidzein, genistein, formononetin, and biochanin A do not inhibit ADH, but are potent aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors.

Daidzin and daidzein suppress free-choice ethanol intake by Syrian golden hamsters.

Syrian Golden hamsters prefer and consume large and remarkably constant amounts of ethanol in a simple two-bottle free-choice regimen. Ethanol intake is significantly suppressed by zimelidine, bromocriptine, buspirone, and lithium carbonate, pharmacological agents that have been shown to be beneficial in controlling ethanol intake in alcohol-dependent humans. These results suggest that this ethanol-drinking animal model has high "predictive validity" and can be used effectively in the search for and identification of new agents for the treatment of alcohol abuse. The model has enabled us to confirm the putative antidipsotropic effect of Radix puerariae (RP), an herb long used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of patients who abuse alcohol. A crude extract of RP at a dose of 1.5 g.kg-1 x day-1 significantly suppresses (> 50%) the free-choice ethanol intake of Golden hamsters. Moreover, two major constituents of RP, daidzein (4',7-dihydroxyisoflavone) and daidzin (the 7-glucoside of daidzein), were also shown to suppress free-choice ethanol intake. Daidzin and daidzein, at doses of 150 and 230 mg.kg-1 x day-1, respectively, suppress ethanol intake by > 50%. RP, daidzein, and daidzin treatment do not significantly affect the body weight and water or food intake of the hamsters. These findings identify a class of compounds that offer promise as safe and effective therapeutic agents for alcohol abuse.

Daidzin: a potent, selective inhibitor of human mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase.

Human mitochondrial aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH-I) is potently, reversibly, and selectively inhibited by an isoflavone isolated from Radix puerariae and identified as daidzin, the 7-glucoside of 4',7-dihydroxyisoflavone. Kinetic analysis with formaldehyde as substrate reveals that daidzin inhibits ALDH-I competitively with respect to formaldehyde with a Ki of 40 nM, and uncompetitively with respect to the coenzyme NAD+. The human cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase isozyme (ALDH-II) is nearly 3 orders of magnitude less sensitive to daidzin inhibition. Daidzin does not inhibit human class I, II, or III alcohol dehydrogenases, nor does it have any significant effect on biological systems that are known to be affected by other isoflavones. Among more than 40 structurally related compounds surveyed, 12 inhibit ALDH-I, but only prunetin and 5-hydroxydaidzin (genistin) combine high selectivity and potency, although they are 7- to 15-fold less potent than daidzin. Structure-function relationships have established a basis for the design and synthesis of additional ALDH inhibitors that could both be yet more potent and specific.

Studies on physical and chemical quality evaluation of crude drug preparations. I. Analysis of Pueraria Radix and species Puerariae

Studies on physical and chemical quality evaluation of crude drug preparations. I. Analysis of Pueraria Radix and species Puerariae