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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Presystemic Metabolism of Anthraquinone

Polyphenols in Rhubarb
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Ya-Tze Li n -'- , Pei-Hua Chang , Kuo-Ching Wen' , Chung-Ping Yu ,

60
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Pei-Dawn Lee Chao , Yu-Chi Hou , Su-Lan Hsiu
lNational Laboratori es of Food and Drugs, Department of Health , Executive Yuan , Taipei; 2Institute of
4

Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Jlnstitute of Chinese Pharmaceutical Science, 'School of Cosmeceutics, ' School of
Pharmacy, 6School of Chinese Medicine, China Mecl ical Universi" Taichung, Taiwan, R. O.C

Objectives. Anthraqllinone polyphenols are bioactive constitllents which mainly present as

glycosicles in rhllbarb , an herb widely used in clinical Chinese medicine. Most polyphenol
glycosides are absorbed only after being hydrolyzed to their aglycones by enteral microflora. In
the present study, we investigated the presystemic metabolism of fOllr ant h raqllinone
po lyphenols inclllding aloe.emo c\ in, rhein , emodin , an c\ chrysophanol as well as their glycosides
in rhllbarb decoction and in rat feces.
Methods. Aloe-emo c\ in , rhein , emodin an c\ chrysophanol in rhubarb decoction and feces
suspension were c\ etermined by HPLC methods developed in this stlldy. The presystemic
metabolism of these anthraqllinones by enteral microflora was investigated by separately
incubating rhubarb c\ ecoction and anthraquinone aglycones with rat feces suspension un c\ er
anaerobic conditions
Results. The contents of four anthraquinone aglycones in rhllbarb c\ ecoction significantly
increased instantaneously upon mixing with feces suspension. Moreover , there was a rapid
c\ ecrease in all anthraquinone aglycones cluring incubation
Conclusions. The anthraqllinone polyphenols in rh llbarb were presystemically metabolize c\
before absorption , inclll c\ ing hy c\ rol y sis of gl ycosides and degraclation of ag lycones by
enterobacteria. ( Mid Taiwan J Med 2004;9:87-95 )
Kewords

anthraqllinones , feces, HPLC, metabolism , polyphenols, rhubarb

INTRODUCTION
Anthraquinone polyphenols are a class of
naturally occurring plant constituents with
antioxidation properties [1-3]. They have been
reported to exhibit antifungus , anticancer ,
purgative and anti-in f1 ammation activities [4-8].
Therefore , they are promising therapeutic agents
against a variety of diseases. Rhubarb , the
roots and rhizomes of Rheum palmatum
Rcceivcd : 3 March 2004
Rcviscd : 2 1 April 2004
Acceptcd . 23 April 200 1.
Address rcprinl rcqucsts 10 : Su-Lan Hsiu , School of Pharl11 acy,
China Mcd ical U ni vc rs i 9 1 Hsuch-Shih Road, Taichung 404 ,
Taiwan, R.O.C.

(Polygonaceae) , contains a large number of

anthraquinone polyphenols. Rhubarb decoction is
widely prescribed in clinical Chin ese medicine as
a potent laxative , antibacteriocide , anticancer
agent, antispasmodic and choleretic. 1n addition ,
rhubarb has also been reported to lower blood
pressure [9 , 10] and cholesterol leve ls [11]. Recent
studies reported that rhubarb inhibi ted reactive
oxygen species and induce d nitric oxide
synthetase [12 , 13].
It has recently been shown that mo s t
f1 avonoid aglycones are absorbed directly by the
gut wall , whereas glycosides are usually absorbed