Identification of flavonoids and flavonoid rhamnosides from Rhododendron mucronulatum for. albiflorum and their inhibitory activities against aldose reductase

► Six flavonoids were isolated from R. mucronulatum for. albiflorum. ► All flavonoids exhibited high aldose reductase inhibitory activities. ► The major flavonoids are quercitrin and myricitrin by HPLC analysis. To investigate the therapeutic potential of compounds from natural sources, Rhododendron mucronulatum for. albiflorum flowers (RMAF) and R. mucronulatum flowers (RMF) were tested for inhibition of aldose reductase (AR). The methanol extracts of RMAF and RMF exhibited AR inhibitory activities (IC50 values 1.07 and 1.29μg/mL, respectively). The stepwise polarity fractions of RMAF were tested for in vitro inhibition of AR from rat lenses. Of these, the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) fraction exhibited AR inhibitory activity (IC50 0.15μg/mL). A chromatography of the active EtOAc fraction of RMAF led to the isolation of six flavonoids, which were identified by spectroscopic analysis as kaempferol (1), afzelin (2), quercetin (3), quercitrin (4), myricetin (5) and myricitrin (6). Compounds 1–6 exhibited high AR inhibitory activity, with IC50 values of 0.79, 0.31, 0.48, 0.13, 11.92 and 2.67μg/mL, respectively. HPLC/UV analysis revealed that the major flavonoids of RMAF and RMF are quercitrin (4) and myricitrin (6). Our results suggest that RMAF containing these six flavonoids could be a useful natural source in the development of a novel AR inhibitory agent against diabetic complications.