Abstract: The inhibitory effects of alcohol extracts from 22 species of herbs,aminoguanidine,and metformin on the non- enzymatic glycosylation of protein in vitro were compared.The herb extracts were prepared by extracting the herbs with alcohol, concentrated and adjusted the solutions to 100 ml.The extracted solutions(1 ml)were mixed separately with PBS(1 ml),and heated in 90℃for 40 min to remove alcohol.The resulting samples mixed with the reactive solution containing glyoxal and bovine serum albumin were incubated at 37℃for 14 d.The AGEs contents were assayed by the specific fluorescence with emission at 440 nm upon excitation at 370 am.Results indicated that the bud of Sophora japonica holds the highest inhibitory activity(96.7%)on the non-enzymatic glycosylation reaction.And Radix scutellariae(93.79%)and Rheum glabricaule(93.15%) also show higher inhibitory rate than both the other herbs and the positive control aminoguanidine(89.56%)(p＜0.01).Our findings showed that the extracts of bud of S.japonica,R.glabricaule and R.scutellariae can inhibit non-enzymatic glycosylation of protein in vitro,and may be useful for developing agents to treat diabetes and vascular complications prospectively.

Key words: non-enzymatic glycosylation of protein, inhibitory ratio, herbs, alcohol extract