Cajanin

Planta Med. 2010 Jan;76(1):79-81.

Flavonoids and isoflavonoids from Sophorae Flos improve glucose uptake in vitro.[Pubmed: 19637114 ]

METHODS AND RESULTS:
Glucose uptake assay-guided fractionations on the methanol extract of Sophorae Flos led to the isolation of the flavonoids rutin (1), narcissin (2), quercetin (3), tamarixetin (4), and kaempferol (5) and the isoflavonoids Cajanin (6), genistein (7), orobol (8), and pratensein (9). Among them, 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9 significantly improved basal glucose uptake in HepG2 cells. Their improving effects were concentration dependent. Compounds 4, 5, 6, and 9 exhibited effects stronger than that of rosiglitazone, which has been used as an antidiabetic drug. However, 2, 3, and 7 did not show any improving effects. Stimulating glucose uptake into peripheral cells may be responsible for reducing the level of blood glucose in the circulation.
CONCLUSIONS:
Therefore, these findings demonstrate a potential to develop these flavonoids and isoflavonoids as hypoglycemic drugs.

J Cell Biochem. 2009 Oct 1;108(2):388-99.

Methoxylated isoflavones, cajanin and isoformononetin, have non-estrogenic bone forming effect via differential mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling.[Pubmed: 19598169]

Following a lead obtained from stem-bark extract of Butea monosperma, two structurally related methoxyisoflavones; Cajanin and isoformononetin were studied for their effects in osteoblasts.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Cajanin had strong mitogenic as well as differentiation-promoting effects on osteoblasts that involved subsequent activation of MEK-Erk and Akt pathways. On the other hand, isoformononetin exhibited potent anti-apoptotic effect in addition to promoting osteoblast differentiation that involved parallel activation of MEK-Erk and Akt pathways. Unlike genistein or daidzein, none of these two compounds appear to act via estrogen receptors in osteoblast. Once daily oral (by gavage) treatment for 30 consecutive days was given to recently weaned female Sprague-Dawley rats with each of these compounds at 10.0 mg kg(-1) day(-1) dose. Cajanin increased bone mineral density (BMD) at all skeletal sites studied, bone biomechanical strength, mineral apposition rate (MAR) and bone formation rate (BFR), compared with control. BMD levels at various anatomic positions were also increased with isoformononetin compared with control however, its effect was less potent than Cajanin. Isoformononetin had no effect on the parameters of bone biomechanical strength although it enhanced MAR and BFR compared with control. Isoformononetin had very mild uterotrophic effect, whereas Cajanin was devoid of any such effect.
CONCLUSIONS:
Our data suggest that Cajanin is more potent than isoformononetin in accelerating peak bone mass achievement. To the best of our knowledge, this work represents the first attempt to elucidate structure-activity relationship between the two methoxylated isoflavones regarding their effects in osteoblasts and bone formation.

Basic & Clinical Medicine, 2011,31(6):661-6.

Hypocholesterolemic effect of total stilbene from Cajanus cajan L. in hyperlipidemic rabbit model and regulatory mechanism.[Reference: WebLink]

To investigate the potential hypolipidemic effects of total stilbene from Cajanus cajan L.(TSC) in rabbits fed with a high-lipid diet and the mechanism of regulation of cholesterol metabolism.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Thirty-six male rabbits were divided into six groups: control group,high lipid model group,TSC-treated with 200,100,50 mg/kg,and Xuezhikang treated group.The effects of TSC were investigated by monitoring serum and liver lipid profile in rabbits.THP-1 cells were induced to macrophages by PMA.The macrophages were labeled with cholesterol.These cells were divided into five groups,i.e,normal group,Cajanin high concentration group(CH),Cajanin mean concentration group(CM),Cajanin low concentration group(CL) and estradiol(E2) group.The cells were cultured for 24 hours in the serum-free RPMI 1640 medium containing 2mg/ml bovine serum albumin(BSA) in the presence or absence of Cajanin(30 μmol/L,3 μmol/L,0.3 μmol/L) or 17β-estradiol(1 μmol/L).The macrophages were washed with PBS again and incubated in the serum-free RPMI 1640 mediumcontaining apoA-I(10 μg/mL) for 12 hours.The radioactivity of samples of both supernatants and cell lysates were determined using the liquid scintillation counter(Beckman,LS 6000SC,USA).Fractional cholesterol efflux was calculated,and the ABCA1 protein was quantified by Western blot. In TSC(200 mg/kg) group,the serum and hepatic TC were reduced by 35.36% and 35.97%(P0.01);the TG contents of serum and liver were also lowered by 12.34%(P0.05) and 41.32%(P0.01).At the same time,serum LDL-C decreased by 29.07%(P0.01).The cholesterol efflux percentage from macrophage was increased by 55.39% and 24.97%(P0.01) respectively in CH and CM group.The expression of the ABCA1 was significantly increased in CH group.
CONCLUSIONS:
TSC has potential hypolipidemic effects,possibly via up-regulating the ABCA1 protein expression,subsequently resulting in increased macrophage cholesterol efflux and RCT.