Pharmacological studies on iridoid compounds. II. Relationship between structures and choleretic actions of iridoid compound.

The relationship between the structures and the choleretic actions of iridoid compounds was examined. Only patrinoside and villoside accelerated bile secretion among the iridoid glucosides but all of the iridoid aglycones increased it after intravenous administration rats. The choleretic effects of villoside, patrinoside aglycone, and 11-deoxy patrinoside aglycone were far weaker in comparison with those of other active iridoid compounds. When an equimolar amount of patrinoside, its aglycone, or 11-deoxy patrinoside aglycone was administered intravenously, their periodical patterns of choleretic activities nearly paralleled with those of isovaleric acid excreted in the bile. Patrinoside was partly hydrolyzed into its aglycone by the artificial gastric juice or the intestinal content. After intraduodenal administration of patrinoside (1 g/kg), the amount of patrinoside enough to exert a choleretic action was detected in the portal blood. These findings indicate that the hemiacetal moiety of iridoid compounds plays an important role in exerting a strong choleretic action and that patrinoside shows the same action following saponification of isovalerate of C-1 position in the liver.