Enantioselective induction of SIRT1 gene by syringaresinol from Panax ginseng berry and Acanthopanax senticosus Harms stem.

Syringaresinol exists either exclusively as one enantiomer or enantiomeric mixtures in plant foods. We found that (+)-syringaresinol, but not (-)-syringaresinol, upregulates silent information regulator two ortholog 1 (SIRT1) gene expression, and thus, Panax ginseng berry with predominantly high contents of (+)-syringaresinol exhibits higher activity in inducing SIRT1 gene expression than Acanthopanax senticosus Harms stem with almost equal proportion of the two enantiomers. These findings highlight the importance of the absolute configuration of syringaresinol for the biological activity.