Bergenin health benefit and liver protectant

Bergenin is an isocumeric compound found in Bergenia crassifolia (Siberian Tea) and several other plants. Bergenin is a C-glycoside of 4-O-methyl gallic acid. Bergenin has a potent liver protective ability against CCl(4)-induced hepatic damage in rats.

Antioxidant benefit
Antioxidant activity of bergenin: a phytoconstituent isolated from the bark of Sacoglottis uchi Huber (Humireaceae).
Org Biomol Chem. 2008; De Abreu HA, Aparecida Dos S Lago I, Souza GP, Piló-Veloso D, Duarte HA, de C Alcântara AF. Departamento de Química, ICEx-Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Bergenin was isolated from Sacoglottis uchi, a species of vegetable found in the Amazon region and popularly used for the treatment of several hepatic problems. This phytoconstituent has been used as an oriental folk medicine for the treatment of many diseases and shows liver protecting properties. We confirmed the antioxidant properties of bergenin.

Absorption of bergenin
Kinetics study on intestinal absorption of bergenin in rats
Sichuan Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban. 2007. Key Laboratory of Drug Targeting of Ministry of Education, West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
To study the kinetics of intestine absorption of bergenin in rats. The intestine absorption of bergenin in the rats was determined by in situ perfusion. The HPLC were used to determine the concentration of bergenin in the perfusate and the plasma. The concentrations of bergenin in various sites of the intestine and the pH values were studied. In the range of 0. 07-0. 21 mg/mL, the absorption of bergenin exhibited linear kinetics. The absorption varied in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum and colon. In the range of pH 5.4-7.8, with the increasing of pH value, the Ka of bergenin decreased. Bergenin is absorbed by the entire intestine, but with limited amount. The absorption of the drug is a first-order process with the passive diffusion mechanism.

Bergenin is found in many plants
Ardisia pusilla and Ardisia japonica have similar amounts of bergenin.
Bergenia crassifolia leaves contain free gallic and ellagic acids, arbutin, hydroquinone, and bergenin.
Bergenia stracheyi rhizomes have bergenin.
Mallotus roxburghianus is used in the traditional medicine in North-Eastern India. It has many active compounds including beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, betulinic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, beta-sitosterol-beta-D-glucoside and bergenin.
Sacoglottis uchi Huber, a species of vegetable found in the Amazon region and popularly used for the treatment of several hepatic problems, has bergenin.

Alternative medicine information, benefits, treatments.

How to easily replace the independent atom model - the example of bergenin, a potential anti-HIV agent of traditional Asian medicine.
Acta Crystallogr B. 2009; Dittrich B, Weber M, Kalinowski R, Grabowsky S, Hübschle CB, Luger P. Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Tammanstrasse 4, Göttingen, Germany.
Bergenin, which has been isolated from a variety of tropical plants, has several pharmacological applications in traditional Asian medicine. Its electron-density distribution was obtained from a room-temperature low-resolution X-ray data set measured with point detection making use of multipole populations from the invariom library. Two refinement models were considered. In a first step, positional parameters and ADPs were refined with fixed library multipoles (model E1). This model was suitable to be input into a second refinement of multipoles (model E2), which converged smoothly although based on Cu Kalpha room-temperature data. Quantitative results of a topological analysis of the electron density from both models were compared with Hartree-Fock and density-functional calculations. With respect to the independent atom model (IAM) more information can be extracted from invariom modelling, including the electrostatic potential and hydrogen-bond energies, which are highly useful, especially for biologically active compounds. The reliability of the applied invariom formalism was assessed by a comparison of bond-topological properties of sucrose, for which high-resolution multipole and invariom densities were available. Since a conventional X-ray diffraction experiment using basic equipment was combined with the easy-to-use invariom formalism, the procedure described here for bergenin illustrates how it can be routinely applied in pharmacological research.