Functional Evaluation of Extracts and Pure Compounds Isolated from VI Tis Thunbergii Var. Taiwaniana on the Improvements of Metabolic Syndrome-Related Diseases

Dependent on the epidemiological studies in Taiwan, the sums of the death rate by cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, overweight-associated diseases, and hypertension were higher than those of the top 1, cancer. These five groups are all included in terms of “metabolic syndromes”. That means that much more effects should be explored on this multiple disorders. Base on the previous results and some preliminary cell experiments of our research team, we find the extracts and purified pure compounds of Vitis thunbergii var. taiwaniana (VTT) exhibit anti-hypertensive effects in in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo models, and crude VTT extracts affect the differentiation of pre-adipocytes (3T3-L1 cell line) and activation the AMPK signaling pathway on C2Cl2 muscle cell line. These data provide informations that VTT could be a good resource to improve risk factors of metabolic syndrome and its related diseases, especially the improvements of hemorheology, diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. There were several pure compounds were isolated and identified from VTT in the past years, including p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (1), vanillin (2), coniferaldehyde (3), vanillic acid (4), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (5), syringic acid (6), gallic acid (7), 4',5,7-trihydroxyflavanone (8), (+)-dihydrokaempferol (9), resveratrol (10), 3,4',5-trihydroxybibenzyl (11), pterostilbene (12), (+)-ε-viniferin (13), ampelopsin B (14), viniferifura (15), ampleopsin C (16), vitisin A (17), syringaresinol (18), and (−)-9'-O-trans-feruloyl-5,5'-dimethoxylariciresinol (19). This is a consecutive, integrated 3-year proposal and performed by 5 PIs, from the upstream of material controls (tissue culture, farm cultivation, pure compound isolation and identification, and hairy root culture) to mid-stream of disease-oriented animal model assays (hemorheology, fat deposit, and diabetes). In the first year, we will perform and mainly follow the guideline “Methods to Evaluate the Safety and Effectiveness of Healthy Foods” to test the extracts by animal models (anti-fat deposits, anti-diabetes, and improvement of abnormal hemorheology) and work on the conditions to establish hairy root culture, and to isolate bioactive compounds at the same time. In the last two years, we will focus on the mechanism of actions, especially the pure active compounds, and the best way to produce and extract the most functional extracts from the hairy root culture. These results will be the basis of the final goal, to make the VTT as a functional food, even therapeutic agents on metabolic syndrome-related diseases.