Abstract:

The inhibitory activity of flavonoids from Artemisia selengensis straw against the formation of fluorescent
advanced glycation end products (AGEs) was evaluated in a bovine serum albumin-methylglyoxal (BSA-MGO) model.
The formation of total AGEs could be generally followed by measuring their characteristic fluorescence at the excitation
and emission maxima of 370 and 440 nm, respectively. Results indicated that 4 elution fractions (F-10, F-30, F-50 and
F-70) obtained with AB-8 resin from the flavonoid extract of Artemisia selengensis straw revealed significant inhibitory
activities against the formation of AGEs in decreasing order: F-50 ＞ F-30 ＞ F-10 ＞ F-70, which was consistent with the
inhibitory effects of rutin and luteolin purified from F-30 and F-50 against the formation of AGEs. Meanwhile, the inhibitory
activities of elution fractions were found to be linearly correlated with their total flavonoid contents. The adduct formed from
the reaction between luteolin and MGO was purified, and LC-MS analysis showed that luteolin might have the potential
to inhibit the formation of AGEs by trapping MGO to form a di-MGO conjugated adduct. Our findings showed that the
flavonoids from Artemisia selengensis straw could inhibit the formation of AGEs in vitro, implying their potential use as a
new inhibitor for preventing and alleviating diabetes and diabetes-related complications.

Key words: Artemisia selengensis straw, flavonoid, advanced glycation end products (AGEs)