Comparative studies of polydatin and resveratrol on mutual transformation and antioxidative effect in vivo

Polydatin and resveratrol are extractives of radix or rhizoma of Polygonum cuspidatum, and as the glycoside forms, it is a natural precursor of resveratrol.

In this study, we aimed to explore the mutual transformation between polydatin and resveratrol in rats, and to compare the antioxidative effect of them in vivo.

In this study, we analyzed the serum molar concentration of polydatin and resveratrol after oral administration in rats and evaluated the anti-oxidative stress effects of them using a mouse model.

Rats were orally administered polydatin or resveratrol and the concentration of them in serum were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Their antioxidative effect was compared in mice with oxidative stress cardiomyopathy induced by doxorubicin (DOX).

The results showed that polydatin and resveratrol could mutually transform in vivo, the molar concentration of polydatin in serum was always averagely 3.35 and 4.28 times as much as resveratrol after oral administration of polydatin and resveratrol at 200 mg/kg, respectively. Both polydatin and resveratrol could significantly decrease the content of malonydialdehyde (MDA), promote the activities of total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in plasma, and increase the content of glutathione (GSH) in myocardial tissue. The effect of polydatin surpassed resveratrol, particularly embodied in increasing the activities of T-SOD and CAT, and the content of GSH.

It illustrates that polydatin is the main substance in serum after intragastric administration with polydatin or resveratrol, and the mutual transformation between polydatin and resveratrol keeps balance; they both have the ability of antioxidative stress in vivo, and polydatin has a better effect than resveratrol, which hints that polydatin may be a substitute for resveratrol in antioxidant for clinical use.