Background: Alpinia oxyphylla
fruit (AOF, Yizhi in Chinese) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine as an anti-diuretic agent
and composed of two parts
i.e. seed and shell. These two parts have different components, but the bioactivity differences of the two
parts are not clear. This study aims to evaluate the different anti-diuretic effects of the seed and shell of AOF.
Materials and Methods: The potential bioactive components were analyzed by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. The diuretic and anti-diuretic
activity was determined with saline-loads rats.
Results: The results showed that the 200 mg/kg and 400mg/kg of SREAO displayed a short-time anti-diuretic activity 1h after
administration and then a significant diuretic activity was being observed at 5-6 h in 400mg/kg group of SREAO. And the 400mg/kg
doses of SREAO also showed a remarkable increase for electrolyte excretion of K
+. Three sesquiterpene compounds, namely
oxyphyllol A (1), oxyphyllol B (2), and nootkatone (3) were identified from the active SREAO fraction by UHPLC-ESI-Q-TOF/MS.
Conclusion: The seed part of
Alpinia oxyphylla possessed pronounced diuretic and anti-diuretic effect. The sesquiterpene
components are the major constituents and possibly contributed the diuretic and anti-diuretic activity.
