title: Intestinal Absorption and Metabolism of Epimedium Flavonoids in Osteoporosis Rats.
abstract: Herba Epimdii is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat osteoporosis. Its main pharmacological ingredients are flavonoids. In previous studies conducted in healthy animals, we showed that epimedium flavonoids could be hydrolyzed into secondary glycosides or aglycon by intestinal flora or enzymes, thereby enhancing their absorption and antiosteoporosis activity. To study the medicine in the pathologic state, epimedium flavonoids were incubated with intestinal mucosa and feces in vitro and intestinal perfusion in situ to explore the differences in absorption and metabolism between sham and osteoporosis rats. For osteoporosis rats, the hydrolysis rates of icariin, epimedin A, epimedin B, and epimedin C incubated with intestinal flora for 1 hour were reduced by 0.19, 0.26, 0.19, and 0.14, respectively, compared with that in sham rats. Hydrolysis rates were reduced by 0.21, 0.24, 0.08, and 0.31 for icariin, epimedin A, epimedin B, and epimedin C incubated with duodenal enzymes for 1 hour and by 0.13, 0.09, 0.07, and 0.47 for icariin, epimedin A, epimedin B, and epimedin C incubated with jejunum enzymes, respectively, compared with the sham group. In addition, the apparent permeability coefficient and elimination percentage of the four epimedium flavonoids in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon decreased by 29%-44%, 32%-50%, 40%-56%, and 27%-53% compared with that in sham rats, respectively. The main metabolites of the four epimedium flavonoids were the same for the two groups after intestinal perfusion, or flora and enzyme incubation. In conclusion, the amount and activity of intestinal flora and enzymes changed in ovariectomized rats, which affected the intestinal absorption and hydrolysis of epimedium flavonoids whose structures contain 7-glucose.
authors.affiliation: Multicomponent of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Microecology Research Center (J.Z., Y.H.M., Y.C., Y.W., X.G.) and Department of Orthopaedics (Z.Z.), Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Multicomponent of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Microecology Research Center (J.Z., Y.H.M., Y.C., Y.W., X.G.) and Department of Orthopaedics (Z.Z.), Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yi Hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Multicomponent of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Microecology Research Center (J.Z., Y.H.M., Y.C., Y.W., X.G.) and Department of Orthopaedics (Z.Z.), Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Multicomponent of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Microecology Research Center (J.Z., Y.H.M., Y.C., Y.W., X.G.) and Department of Orthopaedics (Z.Z.), Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China ychen202@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Multicomponent of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Microecology Research Center (J.Z., Y.H.M., Y.C., Y.W., X.G.) and Department of Orthopaedics (Z.Z.), Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Multicomponent of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Microecology Research Center (J.Z., Y.H.M., Y.C., Y.W., X.G.) and Department of Orthopaedics (Z.Z.), Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D034181:Epimedium / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism*; D007408:Intestinal Absorption / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D005419:Flavonoids