CONTEXT Citrus fruits contain unique flavanones. One of the most abundant of the flavanones, hesperidin, has been shown to prevent bone loss in ovariectomized rats. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to measure the effect of hesperidin with or without calcium supplementation on bone calcium retention in postmenopausal women. DESIGN The study was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, ran...

The effect of hesperetin, naringenin and its glycoside form on the Sindbis neurovirulent strain (NSV) replication in vitro was studied. All flavanones tested were not cytotoxic on Baby Hamster cells 21 clone 15 (BHK-21). Antiviral effect was evaluated by a colorimetric assay using MTT (3-(4,5 dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-dipheyl-tetrazolium bromide) and by plaque reduction assay. Hesperetin and na...

Pterocarpans (1-3) and flavanones (4-10) were isolated from Sophora flavescens and screened for their ability to inhibit neuraminidase (an enzyme crucial in the proliferation of the influenza virus). The majority of inhibitors were shown to have IC(50) values of 20 microM or below. Interestingly, pterocarpan 1 emerged as the best inhibitor with an IC(50) of 1.4 microM. We were thus able to prov...

Phytochemical investigation on the Amygdalus lycioides Spach branchelets resulted in the isolation of four chiral flavanones: (2R,3R)-Taxifolin, (2R,3R)-aromadendrin, (S)-5,7,3',5'-tetrahydroxyflavanone and (S)-naringenin. The flavanones were isolated by semi-preparative HPLC, their structures elucidated based on spectroscopic data and their absolute configuration assigned. As a part of our eth...

Three metabolites appearing in the urine of animals after the ingestion of the flavonol quercetin (1, 2) having been identified, our interests were next centered on similar studies of several citrus flavonoids. Here again our primary concern was to find evidence, if any, that these compounds are absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract after oral ingestion and, secondly, if absorption does take...