Abstract
Bioassay-guided fractionation of a methanolic extract of a Thai crude drug, derived from heartwood of Anaxagorea luzonensis A. Gray (Annonaceae), resulted in the isolation of 8-isopentenylnaringenin (1 ) as an estrogen agonist with an activity of about an order of magnitude greater than genistein. Various flavonoids possessing isopentenyl side chains in the A-ring have been prepared and evaluated for their ability to bind estrogen receptor. In addition, enantiomers of 1 were separated and the respective enantiomers were assayed. These studies have demonstrated that the presence of an 8-isopentenyl group is an important factor for binding. Flavones, flavanones and flavonols having an isopentenyl substituent at C-8 exhibited an appreciable affinity for estrogen receptor. Conversely, isoflavones possessing an 8-isopentenyl substituent at C-8 did not show this activity. Movement of the isopentenyl group from position 8 to 6 resulted in loss of the activity. No significant difference was observed between 2(S )- and 2(R )-enantiomers of 1 in their binding affinity. Prenylflavonoids are reported to possess a wide range of biological activities; however, estrogenic activity has not been described.
Key words
Anaxagorea luzonensis A. Gray - Annonaceae - prenylflavonoid - non-steroidal estrogen agonist - phytoestrogen - isopentenylnaringenin - isopentenylapigenin
