Lignans from the stems and leaves of Brandisia hancei and their effects on VEGF-induced vascular permeability and migration of HRECs and DLAV formation in zebrafish

Glycosylated coumarins, flavonoids, lignans and phenylpropanoids from Wikstroemia nutans and their biological activities

Wikstroemia nutans Champ. ex Benth., a traditional herbal medicine collected at the Lingnan region of China, was chemically investigated. A new biscoumarin glucoside, wikstronutin (1), along with three known bis- and tricoumarin glucosides (2–4), two flavonoid glycosides (5–6), and eleven lignan glucosides (7–17) were isolated from the stems and roots of W. nutans. The new structure including its absolute configuration was elucidated based on a combination of 1D and 2D NMR, UV, IR, HRESIMS spectroscopic data, as well as chemical transformation. Compounds 1–17 were first isolated from the plant species W. nutans, while compounds 1–3, 8, and 11 were reported from the genus Wikstroemia for the first time. All co-isolates were evaluated for their in vitro inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in murine RAW264.7 macrophage cells. The antibacterial activity of the selected compounds was also tested. Our work enriches the structure diversity of the secondary metabolites from the genus Wikstroemia.

Anti-Inflamatory Activity of Neolignan Compound Isolated from the Roots of Saururus chinensis

Saururus chinensis (Lour.) Baill. is a perennial herb and grows in Korea, China, and Japan. Interestingly, (7S,8S)-Δ^8′-3,4-methylenedioxy-3′,5,5′-trimethoxy-7-monoacetate-8.O.4′-neolignan (MTMN), one of the active neolignans, was first isolated from the roots of Saururus chinensis. The compound was screened for anti-inflammatory activity using a RAW264.7 murine macrophage cell line. The dried roots of S. chinensis (9.7 kg) were extracted with 70% methanol and then solvent fractionation. From the ethyl acetate fraction, MTMN was purified through silica gel column and reverse-phase column chromatography and its structure was identified by spectroscopic analysis with nuclear magnetic resonance, circular dichroism, and mass spectrometry. RAW264.7 cells were induced using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and treated with or without MTMN. Production of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) levels were measured and protein expressions of nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were analyzed by immunoblotting. The isolated neolignan was (7S,8S)-Δ^8′-3,4-methylenedioxy-3′,5,5′-trimethoxy-7-monoacetate-8.O.4′-neolignan. This compound suppressed the LPS-induced iNOS and COX-2 protein expressions, which led to a decrease in the production of NO and PGE₂ levels. Further studies, including in animal models, will be required to establish the precise pharmacological effect of MTMN.

A new C-glycosyl flavone and a new neolignan glycoside from Passiflora edulis Sims peel

A new C-glycosyl flavone, Chrysin-8-C-(2″-O-β-6-deoxy-glucopyranosyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (1), a new neolignan glycoside, citrusin G (2), as well as 15 known compounds (3-17) were isolated from the peel of Passiflora edulis Sims. The structure determinations were primarily based on comprehensive spectroscopic analyses, and the absolute configuration of 2 were unequivocally determined by the CD experiment and chemical transformation. Compound 1 represents the rare examples of the flavonoid featuring a deoxy glucose sugar moiety. Compounds 5, 7 and 9 exhibited moderate inhibitory effects on nitric oxide (NO) production stimulated by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in RAW 264.7 cells, with IC₅₀ values of 34.92, 16.12 and 26.67 μM, respectively.