Anti-hyperuricemic effects of three theaflavins isolated from black tea in hyperuricemic mice

Abstract Theaflavins are characteristic ingredients of black tea which are correlated with their qualities and functions. The study aimed to evaluate the effects and mechanism of major theaflavin monomers reducing serum uric acid (SUA) in hyperuricemic mice. Three theaflavin monomers of TF, TFDG and TF-3-G were isolated and purified from black tea. The results showed that they have obvious SUA-lowering effect on hyperuricemic mice. They suppressed the activities of ADA and XOD, down-regulated the genes and proteins expression of GLUT9 and URAT1, up-regulated the gene and protein expression of OAT1 and the genes expression of ABCG2, OCTN1, OCT1/2, and OAT2. They could also decrease serum BUN and Cr values and improve renal damages of hyperuricemic mice. The mechanism might be correlation with reducing the amount of inflammatory cells and activating Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. These findings indicated that TF, TFDG and TF-3-G could have potential application prospects in prevention and therapy of hyperuricemia.