Background: Liver disorder was associated with alcohol consumption caused by hepatic cellular damages. Opuntia ficus-indica fruit extracts (OFIEs), which contain betalain pigments and polyphenols including flavonoids, have been introduced as reducing hangover symptoms and liver protective activity.
Objective: To evaluate hepatoprotective activity of OFIEs and isolated compounds by high-speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC).
Materials and methods: The extract of O. ficus-indica fruits was fractionated into methylene chloride and n-butanol. The n-butanol fraction was isolated by HSCCC separation (methylene chloride-methanol-n-butanol-water, 5:4:3:5, v/v/v/v). The hepatoprotective activity of OFIEs and isolated compounds was evaluated on rat primary hepatocytes against ethanol-induced toxicity. Antioxidative parameters such as glutathione reductase and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) enzymes and the GSH content were measured.
Results: Two flavonoids, quercetin 3-O-methyl ester (1) and (+)-taxifolin, and two flavonoid glycosides, isorhamnetin 3-O-β-d-glucoside (3) and narcissin (4), were isolated from the n-butanol fraction by HSCCC separation. Among them, compound 2 significantly protected rat primary hepatocytes against ethanol exposure by preserving antioxidative properties of GR and GSH-Px.
Conclusions: OFIEs and (+)-taxifolin were suggested to reduce hepatic damage by alcoholic oxidative stress.
Summary: Hepatoprotective Flavonoids were isolated from Opuntia ficus-indica by high -speed countercurrent chromatography (HSCCC).
Keywords: (+)-Taxifolin; Opuntia ficus-indica; alcoholic oxidative damage; high-speed countercurrent chromatography; rat primary hepatocytes.