ABSTRACT
Pancreatic lipase (PL), a crucial enzyme in the digestive system of mammals, has been proven as a therapeutic target to prevent and treat obesity. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and characterize the PL inhibition activities of the major constituents from Fructus Psoraleae (FP), one of the most frequently used Chinese herbs with lipid-lowering activity. To this end, a total of eleven major constituents isolated from Fructus Psoraleae have been obtained and their inhibition potentials against PL have been assayed by a fluorescence-based assay. Among all tested compounds, isobavachalcone, bavachalcone and corylifol A displayed strong inhibition on PL (IC < 10 μmol·L). Inhibition kinetic analyses demonstrated that isobavachalcone, bavachalcone and corylifol A acted as mixed inhibitors against PL-mediated 4-methylumbelliferyl oleate (4-MUO) hydrolysis, with the K values of 1.61, 3.77 and 10.16 μmol·L, respectively. Furthermore, docking simulations indicated that two chalcones (isobavachalcone and bavachalcone) could interact with the key residues located in the catalytic cavity of PL via hydrogen binding and hydrophobic interactions. Collectively, these finding provided solid evidence to support that Fructus Psoraleae contained bioactive compounds with lipid-lowering effects via targeting PL, and also suggested that the chalcones in Fructus Psoraleae could be used as ideal leading compounds to develop novel PL inhibitors.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To optimize the processing technology for Psoraleae Fructus by D-optimal response surface methodology with UHPLC. Methods: Based on the content variations of nine main constituents (psoralen, isopsoralen, neobavaisoflavone, bavachin, psoralidin, corylifolinin, corylin, bavachalcone, and bakuchiol) determined by UHPLC, the D-optimal response surface methodology combined with single factor experiment was used to optimize the moistened time, stir-fried temperature, salted dosage, and stir-fried time in the processing technology for Psoraleae Fructus. Results: The optimal processing technology for Psoraleae Fructus was as follows: 100 g Psoraleae Fructus was mixed with 2.10 g salt, moistened for 12 h, and stir-fried for 30 min at 80℃. Conclusion: The processing technology for Psoraleae Fructus optimized by D-optimal response surface methodology with UHPLC could be used to optimize the process parameters, to promote the stability and repeatability of the processing technology, which provides the technique support for improving the quality uniformity of Psoraleae Fructus and safety in clinic application.