Study of the extraction, purification and antidiabetic potential of ursolic acid from Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc.

摘要

Background: Cornus officinalis Sieb. et Zucc. (CSZ) has been used in traditional Chinesenmedicine for over 1000 years, owing to its immunoregulation, antishock, antiarrhythmia,nantioxidation and antidiabetes properties. The purpose of this study was to optimize thenextraction method of ursolic acid (UA), and to find the main hypoglycemic ingredient ofnCSZ, then evaluate the toxicity of UA isolated from CSZ. Methods: UA was extracted bynthe methods of ethanol infusion, methanol infusion, refluent ethanol and sonication fromnCSZ; solvent extraction and macroporous resin column chromatography were used fornpurification; thin-layer chromatography and visible spectrophotometry were applied fornthe qualitative and quantitative identification. UA isolated from CSZ in the 100 andn200 mg/kg body weight doses was administered to alloxan-induced diabetic mice tondetermine the hypoglycemic effects. Results: The yield was the highest using ultrasonicnextraction and macroporous resin purification. UA isolated from CSZ had a significantnhypoglycemic effect compared with the diabetes control mice since day 10 (p < 0.05 orn0.01). The result of LD50 test and single-cell gel electrophoresis demonstrated that UA wasnnot toxic. Conclusion: These results indicated that ultrasonic extraction was best amongnthese extraction methods. Meanwhile, UA isolated from CSZ is the main hypoglycemicningredient, and resulted in a good hypoglycemic effect in alloxan-induced diabetic mice.nUA was testified to be nontoxic in the LD50 test (in vivo) and single-cell gel electrophoresisn(in vitro).