Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the triglyceride-lowering component and in vivo and in vitro evaluation of hypolipidemic effects of Calyx seu Fructus Physalis.

BACKGROUND: In folklore, some people take the decoction of Calyx seu Fructus Physalis (CSFP) for lowering blood lipids. The present study is designed to evaluate the lipid-lowering activities of CSFP, and search for its pharmacodynamical material.

METHODS: CSFP was extracted by water and 75% ethanol, respectively. The extracts of CSFP for reducing serum lipid levels were evaluated on mouse model of hyperlipidemia. The optimized extract was subjected to the bioactivity-guided fractionation in which the liquid-liquid extraction, collumn chromatography, the in vivo and in vitro models of hyperlipidemia were utilized. The structure of active component was determined by ¹³C-NMR and ¹H-NMR.

RESULTS: The 75% ethanol extract of CSFP decreased the serum total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels in mouse model of hyperlipidemia. Followed a separation process for the 75% ethanol extract of CSFP, the fraction B was proved to be an active fraction for lowering lipid in vivo and in vitro experiments, which could significantly decrease the serum TC and TG levels in mouse model of hyperlipidemia, and remarkably decrease the increase of TG in primary mouse hepatocytes induced by high glucose and the increase of TG in HepG2 cells induced by oleic acid. The fraction B2, isolated from B on bioactivity-guided fractionation, could significantly decrease TG level in HepG2 cells. One compound with the highest content in B2 was isolated and determined as luteolin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside by NMR spectra. It could significantly reduce the TG level in HepG2 cells, and inhibited the accumulation of lipids by oil red O stain.

CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated that the 75% ethanol extract of CSFP could improve in vitro and in vivo lipid accumulation. Luteolin-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside might be a leading pharmacodynamical material of CSFP for lowering lipids.