Preparative purification of antiamyloidogenic stilbenoids from Vitis vinifera (Chardonnay) stems by centrifugal partition chromatography

Five stilbenoids, E-resveratrol, E-piceatannol, (+) E-(ɛ)-viniferin, (+)-ampelopsin A and vitisin C were isolated from methyl tert-butyl ether (MtBE) stem extract of Vitis vinifera (Chardonnay cv). Their purification on a preparative scale was obtained by centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) using quaternary Arizona solvent systems composed of n-heptane/ethyl acetate/methanol/water. We tested 23 Arizona solvent systems to partition the extract and found that systems K and M (Hept/EtOAc/MeOH/water, 1:2:1:2 and 5:6:5:6, respectively; v/v) were the best to separate the stilbenes mentioned above. This support-free liquid–liquid chromatographic procedure made it possible to isolate ampelopsin A from V. vinifera for the first time. The antiamyloidogenic activity of the isolated stilbenes was evaluated versus β-amyloid fibrils. E-resveratrol and (+)-ampelopsin A were found to be the most active compounds with 63 and 46% inhibition at 10 μM, respectively. These findings suggest that E-resveratrol and (+)-ampelopsin A may function as attractive new candidates for protecting against brain cell dysfunction in vivo in AD by inhibiting the aggregation of Aβ.