Disease relevance of Prunasin

• These observations are consistent with reports of cyanide toxicity through the oral use of amygdalin or prunasin and pose serious questions concerning the alleged tumoricidal effect of amygdalin [1].
• The combined seed content of vicianin (0.68 micromol/g) and prunasin (0.16 micromol/g) corresponded to the cyanogen content of the seed (0.91 +/- 0.14 micromol/g; n = 7), determined as cyanide after autolysis [2].
• The ratio of D-mandelonitrile-beta-D-glucoside to L-form excreted in the urine or remained in the gastrointestinal tract was almost in the same as at administration, and hence biological behaviors, such as absorption, excretion and hydrolysis, of both D- and L-forms of glucoside were almost the same [3].

High impact information on Prunasin

• The double mutant AH ID (Y200I and G394D) hydrolyzed prunasin at approximately 150% of the rate of amygdalin hydrolysis, whereas the other mutations failed to engender PH activity [4].
• Therefore, our findings indicate that metabolism of amygdalin to prunasin occurring in the proximal part of jejunum is apparently mediated by enzymatic beta(1-6)glucosidase activity of the gut wall [5].
• The cyanogenic diglycoside lucumin ((R)-mandelonitrile-beta-D-primeveroside) and monoglucoside prunasin ((R)-mandelonitrile-beta-D-glucoside) were isolated from the foliage of the rare Australian rainforest tree species Clerodendrum grayi (Lamiaceae) [6].
• A new method is proposed for determining the cyanogenic glycosides amygdalin (D-mandelonitrile beta-D-gentiobioside) and prunasin (D-mandelonitrile beta-D-glucoside) in almond tree tissues, using poly(vinylpyrrolidone) or active carbon as scavengers for extracting cyanogenic compounds from roots or leaves, respectively [7].
• In general, bitter-kernelled genotypes had higher levels of prunasin in their roots than nonbitter ones, but the correlation between cyanogenic compounds in the different parts of plants was not high [8].

Biological context of Prunasin

• The pharmacokinetics of prunasin have been investigated in the dog [9].
• 3. Only the jejunal transfer of prunasin followed saturation kinetics (vmax = 1.6 mumol cm-1 min-1; KT = 460 mumol l-1) and exhibited a clearsodium-ion dependence [10].
• The oral bioavailability of prunasin is approximately 50%, whereas amygdalin is hardly absorbed unchanged [9].

Anatomical context of Prunasin

• 1. The small-intestinal transfer of prunasin (D-mandelo-nitrile-beta-D-glucoside), the primary metabolite of amygdalin which is not absorbed in the small intestine as such, was studied in rat jejunum and ileum in vitro [10].

Associations of Prunasin with other chemical compounds

• 5. The results indicate that prunasin is absorbed unmetabolised in the jejunum of the rat via the transport system of glucose [10].
• A new acylated triterpene together with prunasin, (-)-epicatechin, daucosterol, and three triterpenes, ursolic, oleanolic, and pomolic acids was isolated from the root of Chaenomeles japonica (THUNB.) LINDL [11].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Prunasin

• Prunasin was identified chromatographically by HPLC [2].

References