The anti-oedematous effect is attributed to aescin, because in case of a hypoxia it i.a. Therefore, it is used to treat chronic venous insufficiency (CVI).
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Aescin possesses anti-inflammatory and anti-oedematous properties 9. Saponins, such as aescin, are consumed on a daily basis as they are found in common foods, such as peanuts, spinach, tomatoes and tea 7, 8.
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Figure 1(a) shows the molecular structure of β-aescin. To the triterpenoid backbone, additional polar groups are attached giving this molecule a polar and an apolar side. They can be distinguished by their melting point, the specific rotation, haemolytic index, and solubility in water 1. The aglycones of aescin are derivatives of proto-ascigenin, acylated by acetic acid at C-22 and by either angelic or tiglic acids at C-21 1. The aescin molecule is constituted of a large and well-defined head group made of one glucuronic acid and two glucose molecules linked to a lipophilic sapogenin 1, 5, 6. It exists in two forms, the α- and the β-form from which the latter is haemolytically active and the compound of interest in this study 1. Aescin is a mixture of triterpenoid saponins 4. From this mixture, two crystalline products are saparable: aescin (haemolytic) and prosapogenin (non-haemolytic) 1, 3. The analyses of the structures formed were performed by wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS).Ī mixture of saponins can be isolated from the seeds of the horse chestnut tree Aesculus hippocastanum 1, 2. While the specific saponin-phospholipid interaction is reduced, addition of cholesterol leads to deformation of SUVs. We show by various methods that the addition of cholesterol alters the impact of aescin on structural parameters ranging from the acyl chain correlation to vesicle-vesicle interactions.
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In addition, it becomes clearly visible that the entire phase behaviour is dominated by phase separation which indeed also depends on the complexes formed between aescin and cholesterol.
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From calorimetric experiments by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), it could be shown that both, the steroid and the saponin content, have a significant impact on the cooperative phase transition behaviour of the DMPC molecules. Additionally, interactions between aescin and cholesterol can be studied for both phase states of the lipid, the gel and the fluid state. At these aescin contents model membranes are conserved in the form of small unilamellar vesicles (SUVs) and major overall structural modifications are avoided. In this work, the temperatures investigated extend from DMPC’s L β′ to its L α phase in dependence of different amounts of the saponin (0–6 mol% for calorimetric and 0–1 mol% for structural analyses) and the steroid (1–10 mol%). In this study, we provide a structural analysis on the complex formation of aescin and cholesterol when embedded in a phospholipid model membrane formed by 1,2-dimyristoyl- sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC). The haemolytic activity results from the ability of aescin to form strong complexes with cholesterol in the red blood cell membrane. The β-form employed in this study is haemolytically active. The saponin aescin, a mixture of triterpenoid saponins, is obtained from the seeds of the horse chestnut tree Aesculus hippocastanum.