Inhibitory activities of tree bark extracts against AGEs formation and their correlation with phenolic components

Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are one of the pivotal factors that cause a variety of diabetes complications. To explore a new class of natural resources that can prevent AGEs formation, the inhibitory activities of tree bark extracts against AGEs formation were evaluated. Most of the crude extracts of inner or outer bark showed equal or superior inhibitory activities to aminoguanidine, a conventional AGEs formation inhibitor. The quantification of phenolic components of each bark extract revealed that proanthocyanidins were one of the principal factors for inhibition, whereas flavonoids, such as flavones/flavonols and flavanones/dihydroflavonols were not a major factor. This study focused on the outer bark extract from Betula platyphylla which showed exceptionally high activity despite its low contents of total phenolics and proanthocyanidins. The bioassay-guided isolation revealed that betulin caffeate and its two derivatives were active principles in extract of B. platyphylla. These compounds exhibited up to ninefold higher activity than methyl caffeate, which suggested that betulin moiety plays a synergistic role in the activity. These results demonstrated the potency of bark extract as the screening source of AGEs inhibitors and also provided a new insight for the exploration of anti-AGEs substances from natural resources.