Structure-activity relationship of procyanidins on advanced glycation end products formation and corresponding mechanisms

Abstract Nonenzymatic glycosylation (NEG) can generate advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and its intermediates α-dicarbonyl compounds, which contribute to the risk of diabetes. This study investigated the anti-glycation mechanisms and structure–activity relationship of (+)-catechin (CC) and (−)-epicatechin (EC). The results showed that the effect of CC on inhibiting AGEs was significantly better than that of EC ( p  ). By exploring the mechanism, we found that there was no significant difference in the ability of CC and EC to capture α -dicarbonyl compounds. But CC was found to be more efficient than EC to inhibit RO , OH and CHO radicals generation, which may be the primary reason that CC was more effective than EC on AGEs inhibition. What’s more, CC showed better inhibitory effect on β -glucosidase that was close to the molecular docking study. Our results will provide a theoretical foundation for development of different structure of procyanidins as natural AGEs inhibitors in food and medicine.