• Current Research on Agriculture and Life Sciences
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• v.24
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• pp.29-35
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• 2006

In this study we evaluated the anti-diabetic potential of Puerariae Radix and its isoflavone (puerarin) by investigating their inhibitory activities against digestive enzymes, ${\alpha}$-amylase, ${\alpha}$-glucosidase and lipase and effect on glucose uptake and PPAR ${\gamma}$ expression. The activities of carbohydrate digestive enzymes were not inhibited by puerarin. Glucose uptake in differentiated adipocytes was stimulated by puerarin. Furthermore, puerarin enhanced the differentiation of preadipocytes as evaluated by triacylglycerol (TG) accumulation, which is specific for differentiated adipocytes. The effect of puerarin on expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ${\gamma}$ (PPAR-${\gamma}$) gene, which is associated with obesity and dyslipidemia, was examined by both real-time PCR and reverse transcriptase PCR. The study demonstrated that puerarin increased the expression of PPAR-${\gamma}$. In conclusion, puerarin showed potential to exert anti-diabetic action by enhancing cellular glucose uptake and thereby TG accumulation in adipocyte tissue.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.25-31
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• 1997

Antioxidative activity of daidzin and puerarin isolated from Puerariae radix against oxidation of low density lipoprotein(LDL) was investigated. The concentration of daidzin at 100$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ and puerarin at 60$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ inhibited Cu$^{2+}$-mediated oxidation of LDL almost completely. The electrophoretic mobility of oxidized LDL by addition of daidzin(100$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$) and puerarin(60$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$) was faster than that of native LDL, but slower than that of oxidized LDL. The oxidized LDL induced by J774 or macrophage was inhibited strongly in the presence of 100$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ daidzin and 60$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ Puerarin. The formation of conjugated dienes in the oxidized LDL was strongly inhibited by 100$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ daidzin and 60$\mu\textrm{g}$/$m\ell$ puerarin.n.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.793-798
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• 1990

As a search for natural antioxidants, antioxidative fractions in pueraria root were extracted and identified using column chromatography, thin layer chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. Components which have most effective antioxidative activities were futher identified by IR and GC/MS. The strongest antioxidative component of pueraria root methanol extract was identified as puerarin. Puerarin obtained from pueraria root was practically effective as antioxidant at the level of 100 ppm. Antioxidative activity of the puerarin was higher in linoleic acid-water system than in a linoleic acid substrate. Puerarin, daidzin and daidzein contents in pueraria root juice were 0.39%, 0.45% and 0,03%, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.4-11
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• 2020

Objective: Puerarin has the potential of regulating the differentiation of preadipocytes, but its mechanism of action has not yet been elucidated. Adipocytes found in adipose tissue, the main endocrine organ, are the main sites of lipid deposition, and are widely used as a cell model in the study of in vitro fat deposition. This study aimed to investigate the effects of puerarin on adipogenesis in vitro. Methods: Puerarin was added to the culture medium during the process of adipogenesis. The proliferation and differentiation of bovine preadipocytes was measured through cell viability and staining with oil red O. The content of triacylglycerol was measured using a triglyceride assay kit. The mRNA and protein expression levels of adipogenic genes, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) and CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-α, were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting, respectively. Results: The addition of puerarin significantly increased adipogenesis of bovine preadipocytes and enhanced the mRNA and protein level expression of PPARγ (p<0.01). The expression of P-Akt increased after adipogenic hormonal induction, whereas puerarin significantly increased PPARγ expression by promoting the Akt signaling component, P-Akt. The mechanism of adipogenesis was found to be related to the phosphorylation level of Ser473, which may activate the downstream signaling of the Akt pathway. Conclusion: Puerarin was able to promote the differentiation of preadipocytes and improve fat deposition in cattle. The mechanism of adipogenesis was found to be related to the phosphorylation level of Ser473.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.115-125
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• 2007

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective activities of daidzin, daidzein, genistein or puerarin, active isoflavonoids of Puerariae Radix, on the hepatocyte injury induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl$_4$, 10 mM), tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBH, 0.5 mM) and D-galactosamine (GalN, 30 mM). Primary cultures of rat hepatocytes (18 hr cultured) were treated with CCl$_4$, TBH or GalN and various concentrations (0.1, 1, 10 and 100 ${\mu}$M) of daidzin, daidzein, genistein or puerarin. CCl$_4$ significantly increased the levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). The increase in LDH level was attenuated by daidzein, genistein and puerarin. Puerarin also inhibited the increase in AST level induced by CCl$_4$. The increases in LDH and ALT levels induced by TBH were significantly attenuated by daidzin and genistein treatments. GalN markedly increased the levels of LDH, ALT and AST These increases were significantly attenuated by daidzein. Daidzin also inhibited the increases in LDH and AST levels induced by GalN. The increases in LDH and ALT levels were attenuated by genistein and puerarin, respectively. These results suggest that daidzin and daidzein possess hepatoprotective activities.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.221-230
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• 2023

Diabetic kidney disease is one of the most serious complications of diabetes. Although diabetic kidney disease can be effectively controlled through strict blood glucose management and corresponding symptomatic treatment, these therapies cannot reduce its incidence in diabetic patients. The sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and the traditional Chinese herb "Gegen" have been widely used in diabetes-related therapy. However, it remains unclear whether the combined use of these two kinds of medicines contributes to an increased curative effect on diabetic kidney disease. In this study, we examined this issue by evaluating the efficacy of the combination of puerarin, an active ingredient of Gegen, and canagliflozin, an SGLT2 inhibitor for a 12-week intervention using a mouse model of diabetes. The results indicated that the combination of puerarin and canagliflozin was superior to canagliflozin alone in improving the metabolic and renal function parameters of diabetic mice. Our findings suggested that the renoprotective effect of combined puerarin and canagliflozin in diabetic mice was achieved by reducing renal lipid accumulation. This study provides a new strategy for the clinical prevention and treatment of diabetic kidney disease. The puerarin and SGLT2 inhibitor combination therapy at the initial stage of diabetes may effectively delay the occurrence of diabetic kidney injury, and significantly alleviate the burden of renal lipotoxicity.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.147-157
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• 2021

Coronary microembolization (CME) is associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction. Puerarin confers protection against multiple cardiovascular diseases, but its effects and specific mechanisms on CME are not fully known. Hence, our study investigated whether puerarin pretreatment could alleviate cardiomyocyte apoptosis and improve cardiac function following CME. The molecular mechanism associated was also explored. A total of 48 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into CME, CME + Puerarin (CME + Pue), sham, and sham + Puerarin (sham + Pue) groups (with 12 rats per group). A CME model was established in CME and CME + Pue groups by injecting 42 ㎛ microspheres into the left ventricle of rats. Rats in the CME + Pue and sham + Pue groups were intraperitoneally injected with puerarin at 120 mg/kg daily for 7 days before operation. Cardiac function, myocardial histopathology, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis index were determined via cardiac ultrasound, hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and hematoxylin-basic fuchsin-picric acid (HBFP) stainings, and TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining, respectively. Western blotting was used to measure protein expression related to the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) pathway. We found that, puerarin significantly ameliorated cardiac dysfunction after CME, attenuated myocardial infarct size, and reduced myocardial apoptotic index. Besides, puerarin inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis, as revealed by decreased Bax and cleaved caspase-3, and up-regulated Bcl-2 and PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway related proteins. Collectively, puerarin can inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis and thus attenuate myocardial injury caused by CME. Mechanistically, these effects may be achieved through activation of the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.171-177
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• 2008

Objectives: This study presents a reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography- pulsed amperometric detection(RP-HPLC-PAD) method for the determination of puerarin and daidzin in Puerariae Radix extract and Chinese medicinal preparations. Methods: Chromatographic separation was performed using a 10% acetonitrile with a reversed-phase column(Unison UK-C18, $100mm{\times}2.0mm$ I.D.; $3{\mu}m$). The analyses were detected by pulsed amperometric detector(PAD) in alkaline conditions by combining with post-column NaOH solution. Geniposide was used as an internal standard. Results: The limit of detection(S/N=3) and the limit of quantification(S/N=10) were 0.025 ng, 0.075 ng for puerarin, and 0.05 ng, 0.15 ng for daidzin, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precisions(RSDs) were less than 6.5% and average recoveries of puerarin were 99.7-101.3% and those of daidzin were 101.0-102.8%. Conclusions: According to above results, we developed a determination method for puerarin and daidzin in Puerariae Radix with high sensitivity and selectivitely.

• Korean Journal of Plant Resources
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.25-28
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• 2000

The experiments were carried out to investigate the antimicrobial activity and the content of isoflavonoids each fraction of the methanol extract from Korean arrowroots. The strongest antimicrobical fraction of the methanol extract was the etylacetate fraction and the other fraction was not detected antimicrobial activity. The yield of the ethylacetate fractation was 7~9% of the methanol extract of Korean arrowroot TLC was carried out using silical gel plate and CH$_2$C1$_2$- $CH_3$OH(7 : 3) and puerarin, daizin were detected by spraying 10% H$_2$SO$_4$ and Rf was 0.60 and 0.69, respectively. Puerarin, daidzin and daidzein contents were determined of the ethylacetate fraction of the sample Puerarin and daidzin contents were abundant in the samples of November, while daidzein content was abundant in the sample of Februery.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.123-126
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• 2003

Advanced glycation end products(AGEs) are largly involved in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications. It is obvious that inhibition of AGEs formation is important in preventing the occurrence and progression of diabetic complications. Therefore, to seek possible AGEs inhibitors in herbal medicines, unprocessed - und processed Puerariae Radix were tested. The inhibitory effect on AGEs formation was slightly increased through processing. Unprocessed-, processed Puerariae Radix and puerarin showed potential inhibitory action than that of positive control, amino guanidine HCI.