Antioxidative and Antitumor Effects of Isoflavones Isolated from the Leaves of Maackia fauriei.

Abstract

The flowers of Maackia fauriei have traditionally been used to treat hypertension, apoplexy, hemostasis, vaginal bleeding, and dystocia; moreover, the bark of this plant has been used as a natural dye. In the present study, activity-guided isolation of the leaves of M. fauriei yielded five isoflavones [genistein (1), pratensein (2), genistin (3), 2'-hydroxygenistein-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (4), and 2,3-dehydrokievitone (5)]; three pterocarpans [medicarpin (6), maackiain (7), and 4-hydroxy maackiain (8)]; and one flavonol [isoquercitrin (9)]. To evaluate the anti-oxidative effects of these compounds, their 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assays and nitrotetrazolium blue chloride (NBT) superoxide scavenging assays were measured. And the anti-tumor activity against human cancer cell lines in genital system, LNCaP, PC-3, HeLa and OVCAR-3 cells were evaluated by MTT method. Furthermore, the apoptosis of the PC-3 and HeLa cells were determined by by annexin V-FITC and PI their fluorescence was analyzed by flow cytometry. The flavonol (9, isoquercitrin) and pterocarpan (8, 4-hydroxymaackiain) showed strong anti-oxidative activities. Besides, the isoflavones (1-5) did not showed anti-oxidative activity and the isoflavones (1-5) and pterocarpans (6-8) generally showed the potent cytotoxic activity against all of four human genital cancer cells. Especially, 2,3-dehydrokievitone (5) which had a prenyl group at C-8 position of the A-ring exhibited strong cytotoxic activity and induced apoptosis efficiently in cancer cells. (C) 2016 ACG Publications. All rights reserved.