This study was aimed at evaluating the prospect of edible chrysanthemum extract as a potential substance for the prevention and treatment of hyperuricemia. Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. ‘Boju’ extract (CBE), which had the strongest xanthine oxidase inhibitory activity, showed a significant hypouricemic effect on potassium oxonate-induced hyperuricemic rats through inhibiting serum xanthine oxidase activity, regulating renal uric acid transport-related protein (ABCG2, URAT1 and GLUT9) expression and blood lipid levels, and protecting renal function. Serum metabolomics based on UPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS was used to illustrate mechanisms underlying the amelioration effect of CBE on hyperuricemia. A total of 35 potential biomarkers were identified. CBE prevented the pathological process of hyperuricemia by regulating 16/17 biomarkers associated with tryptophan, sphingolipid, glycerophospholipid and arachidonic acid metabolisms. CBE could alleviate hyperuricemia-related diseases including chronic kidney disease, hyperlipidemia and inflammation via reducing indoxyl sulfate, lysophosphatidylcholines and arachidonic acid levels, exhibiting its applicability and superiority in the treatment of hyperuricemia.
This study aimed at obtaining precise quality control standards to efficiently screen Chrysanthemum morifolium Ramat. ‘ Boju ’ with strong xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitory activity for developing C. morifolium ‘ Boju ’ extract based-hypouricemic functional food. The results indicated significant differences in volatile and phenolic profiles and XO inhibitory (XOI) activities of 31 batches of C. morifolium ‘ Boju ’ collected in herb/tea market. The minority of C. morifolium ‘ Boju ’ having abundant characteristic monoterpenoids and flavonoid aglycones showed strong XOI activities, while the majority of C. morifolium ‘ Boju ’ possessing few corresponding monoterpenoids and flavonoid aglycones exhibited moderate XOI activities. Seven XOI activity-directly related phenolics and ten XOI activity-indirectly related volatiles were identified by UPLC-ESI-QTOF/MS-based and HS-SPME-GC/MS-based spectrum-effect relationships, respectively. Three flavonoids (luteolin, apigenin and acacetin) identified as key XO inhibitors and four monoterpenoids (filifolone, α-terpineol, thymol and piperitenone) closely related to key XO inhibitors were screened for XOI activity-oriented quality control of C. morifolium ‘ Boju ’.