ABSTRACT
Objective To study and compare the metabolism of Hedyotis diffusa flavonoid extract in intestinal flora from human, normal rats and pseudo germ-free rats in vitro. Methods Intestinal flora of human, normal rats and pseudo germ-free rats were incubated with Hedyotis diffusa extract, rutosid, isoquercitrin and quercitrin under anaerobic conditions at 37℃.High-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection ( HPLC-DAD ) was used for the analysis of components and metabolic products.The trends of metabolic transformation of the various components were analyzed according to the changes in chromatographic peak areas at different incubation time points. Results The components of Hedyotis diffusa extract and its monomer were quickly metabolized by human and normal rat intestinal flora and the main metabolite was quercetin.However, they were hardly metabolized by intestinal flora from pseudo germ-free rats. The metabolism effect of intestinal flora was weaker on components than on the corresponding monomers. Conclusion By comparing flavonoids metabolism in intestinal flora from human, normal rats and pseudo germ-free rats, the important role of intestinal microflora in the metabolism of flavonoids is further confirmed.