The Isolation and Antioxidative Effects of Vitexin from Acer palmatum

Free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by UV exposure or other environmental factors are critical players in cellular damage and aging. In order to develop a new antiphotoaging agent, this work focused on the antioxidant effects of the extract of tinged autumnal leaves of Acer palmatum. One compound was isolated from an ethyl acetate soluble fraction of the A. palmatum extract using silica gel column chromatography. The chemical structure was identified as apigenin-8-C-beta-D-glucopyranoside, more commonly known as vitexin, by spectral analysis including LC-MS, FT-IR, UV, $^{1}H-$, and $^{13}C-NMR$. The biological activities of vitexin were investigated for the potential application of its anti-aging effects in the cosmetic field. Vitexin inhibited superoxide radicals by about $70\%$ at a concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/mL$ and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals by about $60\%$ at a concentration of $100\;{\mu}g/mL$. Intracellular ROS scavenging activity was indicated by increases in dichlorofluorescein (DCF) fluorescence upon exposure to UVB $20\;mJ/cm^2$ in cultured human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) after the treatment of vitexin. The results show that oxidation of 5-(6-)chloromethyl-2',7'-dichlo-rodihydrofluorescein diacetate ($CM-H_{2}DCFDA$) is inhibited by vitexin effectively and that vitexin has a potent free radical scavenging activity in UVB-irradiated HDFs. In ROS imaging using a confocal microscope we visualized DCF fluorescence in HDFs directly. In conclusion, our findings suggest that vitexin can be effectively used for the prevention of UV-induced adverse skin reactions such as free radical production and skin cell damage.