Planta Med 1997; 63(5): 436-440
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-957729
Papers
Pharmacology
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Role of Human Intestinal Prevotella oris in Hydrolyzing Ginseng Saponins

Hideo Hasegawa1 , Jong-Hwan Sung2 , Yoshimi Benno3
  • 1Itto Institute of Life Science Research, Happy World Inc., 3-13-8 Shiraitodai, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo, 183, Japan
  • 2Central Research Institute, IL HWA Co., Ltd., 437 Suteak-dong, Guri-shi, Kyonggi-do, Korea
  • 3Japan Collection of Microorganisms, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako-shi, Saitama, 351 -01, Japan
Further Information

Publication History

1996

1997

Publication Date:
04 January 2007 (online)

Abstract

The potential of intestinal bacteria to hydrolyze ginsenoside Rb1 to 20-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-20(S)-protopanaxadiol (I) was found in 79% of the fecal specimens from 58 human subjects whose age ranged from 1 to 64 years. Following a ginsenoside-Rb1 -hydrolyzing activity assay, Prevotella oris strains were then isolated as a major bacterial species possessing the potential. All the intestinal isolates converted ginsenosides Rb1 and Rd to I, ginsenoside Rb2 to 20-O-[α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]-20(S)-protopanaxadiol (II), and ginsenoside Rc to 20-O-[α-L-arabinofuranosyl(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]-20(S)-protopanaxadiol (III) like fecal microflora, but did not attack ginsenosides Re or Rg1 (protopanaxatriol-type). The isolates were susceptible to colimycin (MIC, 3.13 µg/ml) and then the treatment of specific pathogen free mice with colimycin (20 mg/kg/day) decreased intestinal bacterial Rb1-hydrolyzing potential from 22.1 ± 1.2% to 4.7 ± 2.7%, while the decreased potential was restored to 30.7 ± 3.7% by the inoculation with P. oris isolates. These results suggest that the metabolism of pro-topanaxadiol saponins to metabolites I-III in the intestines seems most partly due to intestinal P. oris. In addition, the fact that neither intact ginsenoside Rb1 nor its middle metabolic derivatives but only the final metabolite I was detected at 1.0-7.3 µg/ml in blood after oral administration of mice with ginsenoside Rb1 (125 mg/kg) allows us to speculate that metabolites I-III are the most likely forms of protopanaxadiol saponins absorbed from the intestines.