Flavonoids from Cirsium japonicum var. maackii pappus as inhibitors of aldose reductase and their simultaneous determination

Aldose reductase is an enzyme in the polyol pathway which is associated in the progression of diabetic complications. In this study, we evaluated the inhibitory activity of Cirsium japonicum var. maackii pappus (CJP) against rat lens aldose reductase (RLAR). The ethanolic extract, fractions and isolated flavonoids were subjected to an RLAR assay. Isolation of chloroform (CHCl3) and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fractions led to the identification of four flavonoids: hispidulin (1), cirsimaritin (2), apigenin (3), and cirsimarin (4). The RLAR assay results suggested that the EtOAc fraction and flavonoids 1 and 3 promoted better AR inhibition than did TMG (control). The half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of compounds 1 and 3 was 0.77 and 3.19 μM, respectively. A simultaneous determination of flavonoid content using HPLC–UV indicated that CJP contained large amounts of compounds 2 and 3 (1.65 and 1.84 mg/g, respectively). Flavonoids from Cirsium species have been widely reported to show various pharmacological activities. This study indicated that CJP has the potential to prevent diabetic complications and was a potential source of flavonoids.