Ononin is an

isoflavone Isoflavones are a type of naturally-occurring isoflavonoids, many of which act as phytoestrogens in mammals. Isoflavones occur in many plant species, but are especially high in soybeans. Although isoflavones and closely-related phytoestrogens ar ...

glycoside, the 7-''O''-β-D-glucopyranoside of formononetin, which in turn is the 4'-''O''-methyl (4'-methoxy) derivative of the parent isoflavone

daidzein Daidzein (7-hydroxy-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one) is a naturally occurring compound found exclusively in soybeans and other legumes, and structurally belongs to a class of compounds known as isoflavones. Daidzein and other isoflavones a ...

Natural sources

Ononin is a major isoflavone found in a number of plants and herbs like

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean. Soy is a staple crop, the world's most grown legume, and an important animal feed. Soy is a key source o ...

Astragalus Astragalus may refer to: * ''Astragalus'' (plant), a large genus of herbs and small shrubs *Astragalus (bone) The talus (; Latin for ankle or ankle bone; : tali), talus bone, astragalus (), or ankle bone is one of the group of foot bones known ...

root, and '' Glycyrrhiza uralensis''.

Pharmacokinetics

Intestinal bacterial metabolic pathways may include

demethylation Demethylation is the chemical process resulting in the removal of a methyl group (CH3) from a molecule. A common way of demethylation is the replacement of a methyl group by a hydrogen atom, resulting in a net loss of one carbon and two hydrogen at ...

and deglycosylation. It follows that formation of formononetin and/or daidzein is possible.

Pharmacodynamics

An ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...

'' anti-inflammatory effect on

lipopolysaccharide Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), now more commonly known as endotoxin, is a collective term for components of the outermost membrane of the cell envelope of gram-negative bacteria, such as '' E. coli'' and ''Salmonella'' with a common structural archit ...

(LPS)-induced inflammation has been demonstrated in one study.

References

{{Isoflavone O-methylated isoflavones Isoflavone glucosides