Anti-proliferative and anti-neuroinflammatory eudesmanolides from Wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata (L.) Pruski)

Abstract

Wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata, Syn. Wedelia trilobata), a notoriously invasive agricultural weed, can inhibit the growth and development of crops in the field. Eight new eudesmanolides (1–8), along with twelve known congeners (9–20), were isolated and identified from the flowers of Wedelia. Their chemical structures were elucidated through various spectroscopic techniques. The isolates were tested for anti-proliferative activities against HeLa, HepG2, and SGC-7901 tumor cell lines. Most eudesmanolides exhibited significant anti-proliferative activities with good selectivity. Meanwhile, the cells morphology and clonogenic survival assays were observed for compounds 1–3. Moreover, compound 6 displayed obvious anti-neuroinflammatory effect by inhibition of NO production in LPS-induced microglia BV-2 cells with the IC50 value of 11.77 ± 0.83 μM. Hence, this study demonstrated that the eudesmanolides from Wedelia possessed significant antitumor and anti-inflammatory activity, which provided some guides for the further development and a new thinking for its control.