Natures Allopurinol

Gout Research from Planta Med. (Planta medica.) 2009 Mar;75(4):302-6. Epub 2009 Jan 30.

Lonicera hypoglauca Inhibits Xanthine Oxidase and Reduces Serum Uric Acid in Mice.

Chien SC, Yang CW, Tseng YH, Tsay HS, Kuo YH, Wang SY.

School of Chinese Medicine Resources, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.

Xanthine oxidase (XOD) catalyzes the oxidation of hypoxanthine to xanthine and then to uric acid, and is a key enzyme in the pathogenesis of hyperuricemia. The ability of extracts of LONICERA HYPOGLAUCA (Caprifoliaceae) to inhibit XOD was investigated in this study. An ethanol extract (LH-crude) of the leaves of L. HYPOGLAUCA and its derived EtOAc soluble sub-fractions (LH-EA) significantly inhibited XOD activity, with IC (50) values for LH-crude and LH-EA of 48.8 and 35.2 microg/mL. Moreover, LH-EA reduced serum urate levels IN VIVO in a potassium oxonate-induced hyperuricemic mouse model, by 70.1 % and 93.7 % of the hyperuricemic untreated group at doses of 300 and 500 mg/kg of LH-EA, respectively. Finally, we used bioactivity-guided fractionation to isolate a new bisflavonoid, loniceraflavone, which showed significant inhibition of XOD (IC (50) = 0.85 microg/mL). These results suggest that L. HYPOGLAUCA and its extracts may have a considerable potential for development as an anti-hyperuricemia agent for clinical application.

PMID: 19184967 [PubMed - in process]