Isolation of an aldose reductase inhibitor from the fruits of Vitex rotundifolia Part 2 in the series "Studies on the inhibitory effects of medicinal plant constituents on cataract formation".

An ether extract from the fruits of Vitex rotundifolia exhibited potent inhibition of rat lens aldose reductase (RLAR) activity in vitro. Systematic fractionation of active fractions monitored by bioassay led to isolation of three compounds, among which luteolin was identified as a potent active principle. It exhibited an IC(50) of 7.4 × 10(-7) M for DL-glyceraldehyde as a substrate.