Pinellic Acid Isolated from Quercetin-rich Onions has a Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor-Alpha/Gamma (PPAR-alpha/gamma) Transactivation Activity

Planta Med. 2022 Jan 17. doi: 10.1055/a-1345-9471. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Quercetin, a flavonol, is a functional compound that is abundant in onions and is known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Quercetin and its glucoside are known to function as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) ligands and showed high PPAR-α transactivation activity but little PPAR-γ transactivation activity in some reports. In this study, we demonstrated that an aqueous extract of a quercetin-rich onion cultivar increased transactivation activities not only of PPAR-α but also of PPAR-γ. We isolated (9S,12S,13S)-(10E)-9,12,13-trihydroxyoctadec-10-enoic acid (pinellic acid) obtained from the aqueous extract using PPAR-γ transactivation as an index. Furthermore, it was revealed that pinellic acid could transactivate PPAR-α. Our findings are the first report mentioned showing that trihydroxyoctadec-10-enoic acids showed PPAR-α/γ transactivation activities.

PMID:35038752 | DOI:10.1055/a-1345-9471