Astragalosides isolated from the root of astragalus radix inhibit the formation of advanced glycation end products.

Because advanced glycation end product (AGE) inhibitors such as pyridoxamine significantly inhibit the development of retinopathy and neuropathy in the streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat, treatment with AGE inhibitors is believed to be a potential strategy for the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetic complications. A crude extract of Astragali Radix (AR; roots of Astragalus membranaceus ) inhibits the formation of N(epsilon)-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) and pentosidine during the incubation of bovine serum albumin with ribose. In the present study, compounds were isolated from AR that prevented CML and pentosidine formation. Astragalosides significantly inhibited the formation of both CML and pentosidine, and astragaloside V had the strongest inhibitory effect among all if the isolated compounds. These data suggest that AR and astragalosides may be a potentially useful strategy for the prevention of clinical diabetic complications by inhibiting AGEs.