Biological activities of unique isoflavones prepared from Apios americana Medik

Abstract

Four unique isoflavone aglycones (barpisoflavone A (1), 2′-hydroxygenistein (2), 5-methylgenistein (3), and gerontoisoflavone A (4)) whose structures were related to genistein were prepared from the tuber of Apios americana Medik. We examined the estrogen receptor and androgen receptor binding activities, estrogen agonistic activities, antioxidant activities, and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of 1–4. The results obtained showed that 2 possessed potent and 1, 3, and 4 possessed moderate estrogen partial agonistic activities, 1 and 2 possessed moderate antioxidant activities, and 2 and 3 possessed moderate α-glucosidase inhibitory activities.

Graphical abstract

Four unique isoflavone aglycones (barpisoflavone A (1), 2′-hydroxygenistein (2), 5-methylgenistein (3), and gerontoisoflavone A (4)) were prepared from the tuber of Apios americana Medik, and tested their biological activities.

Key words:

• Apios americana Medik
• isoflavone
• estrogen agonistic activity
• antioxidant activity
• α-glucosidase inhibitory activity

Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Taiichiro Seki (Nihon Univeristy) for his helpful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.