Discovery of novel anti-hyperlipidemia phytochemicals from the ethnomedicinal plant Rhodoleia championii.
Wu YF, Zhang Y, Jin Q, Zhu GH, He YH
Medicinal Plants
An ornamental flowering tree grown in Asian gardens for centuries turns out to carry one of the most potent natural enzyme-blocking compounds ever found for cholesterol regulation — a reminder that the plants we admire for their blooms may be quietly holding uncharted chemistry.
Researchers took a close look at Rhodoleia championii, a flowering tree long used in traditional medicine in parts of Asia, and pulled out dozens of natural compounds from it. One of those compounds, which they named rhodolin F, turned out to be extraordinarily good at switching off a protein in the body that's linked to fat buildup and high cholesterol. When they tested it on cells in a lab, it reduced fat droplet accumulation without harming the cells, suggesting it could one day become the basis for a new cholesterol-lowering medicine.
Key Findings
Rhodolin F (compound 7) inhibited the cholesterol-linked enzyme hCES1A with an IC50 of 21 nM — an exceptionally potent natural inhibitor.
Six of the 24 compounds isolated were entirely new to science, including one with a never-before-seen chemical scaffold (compound 1).
In living cells, rhodolin F reduced fat droplet accumulation dose-dependently at an IC50 of 0.24 µM with no observed cytotoxicity.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists found that a compound called rhodolin F, extracted from the ornamental tree Rhodoleia championii, powerfully blocks an enzyme linked to high cholesterol and fat buildup in cells — with no apparent toxicity. This opens a path toward plant-derived treatments for hyperlipidemia, validating a traditional medicinal use of this plant.
Abstract Preview
Therapeutic targeting of human carboxylesterase 1 A (hCES1A) represents a promising strategy for treating hyperlipidemia and related metabolic disorders. The first comprehensive phytochemical inves...
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Rhodoleia championii, the Hong Kong rose, is a species of plant in the family Hamamelidaceae. It is a small evergreen tree with dangling scarlet flowers that are pollinated primarily by birds, and is found in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam.