Synsepalum dulcificum (Miracle fruit) is a tropical plant in West and Central Africa, which has been historically used for treating diarrhea in humans and animals. Pharmacological research has shown that the leaves of the plant possess anti-hyperlipidemia activity. However, its anti-hyperlipidemic components have not been reported. In this study, the leaves of S. dulcificum were extracted using 95% ethanol and the extract was fractionated using different polar solvents. The anti-hyperlipidemia activity of the extract and fractions were evaluated using the zebrafish model. The results showed that the ethyl acetate (EA) fraction displayed the best anti-hyperlipidemic effect. A comparison of the high-performance liquid chromatography equipped with diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) profiles of the ethanol extract and different fractions at 350 nm indicated that a peak at 37.4 min has the highest intensity in the EA part, relatively. Then the chemical constituents of the extract and the active fraction were extensively identified using UPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS/MS, showing the main peak was quercitrin and other components in the EA part mainly included quercitrin analogs. Furthermore, the quercitrin was isolated from the plant and its contents in the extract and fractions were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detector (HPLC-UV) method. The quantitative results showed that the content of quercitrin in the EA fraction was 10.04% (w/w). Further pharmacological study indicated that quercitrin also possessed potent anti-hyperlipidemia activity (improvement rates of liver fat and total cholesterol were 75.6% and 92.5% at 40 μg/mL, respectively). Besides, quercitrin showed little toxicity to zebrafish embryos.

Synsepalum dulcificum （奇迹果）是西非和中非的一种热带植物，历史上一直用于治疗人类和动物的腹泻。药理研究表明，该植物的叶子具有抗高血脂活性。但其降血脂成分尚未见报道。在本研究中，使用 95% 乙醇提取S. dulcificum的叶子，并使用不同的极性溶剂对提取物进行分级。使用斑马鱼模型评估提取物和级分的抗高脂血症活性。结果表明，乙酸乙酯（EA）级分显示出最佳的抗高血脂效果。乙醇提取物和不同馏分在 350 nm 处的配备二极管阵列检测器的高效液相色谱 (HPLC-DAD) 谱图的比较表明，37.4 分钟处的峰在 EA 部分中具有相对最高的强度。然后使用UPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap-MS/MS对提取物和活性部分的化学成分进行广泛鉴定，显示主峰是槲皮苷，EA部分中的其他成分主要包括槲皮苷类似物。此外，从植物中分离出槲皮苷，并采用高效液相色谱-紫外检测器（HPLC-UV）法测定提取物和级分中的槲皮苷含量。定量结果表明，EA馏分中槲皮苷的含量为10.04%（w/w）。进一步的药理研究表明，槲皮素还具有有效的抗高脂血症活性（40μg/mL时，肝脏脂肪和总胆固醇的改善率分别为75.6%和92.5%）。此外，槲皮素对斑马鱼胚胎的毒性很小。