Inhibition of the formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) is an attractive strategy in diabetes treatment. Taraxacum coreanum extracts were suggested to have antidiabetic effects. However, studies on the components of T. coreanum are lacking, and there is no report on the inhibitory effects of T. coreanum on the formation of AGEs. Therefore, T. coreanum extracts and fractions were tested for their inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase and AGEs formation in two systems (bovine serum albumin (BSA)⁻glucose and BSA⁻methylglyoxal (MGO)). Bioassay-guided isolation of compounds from T. coreanum led to six flavones (1⁻6) and four hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives (7⁻11). Compound 11 exhibited the highest inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and AGEs formation and had the highest content in T. coreanum extract. All compounds except compound 9 showed a stronger inhibition than the positive control in the BSA-glucose and BSA-MGO system. In addition, T. coreanum showed a higher content of bioactive compounds and stronger inhibition of AGE formation and α-glucosidase activity than T. officinale. Our study demonstrated the preventive and therapeutic efficacy of T. coreanum and its potential use as a cost-effective phytopharmaceutical in complementary therapy against type-2 diabetes and its complications.
Keywords: AGE formation; MGO; Simultaneous analysis; Taraxacum coreanum; bioassay-guided isolation; diabetic complication; flavones; glucosidase; hydroxycinnamic acid; type-2 diabetes.