Antimycobacterial 1,4-napthoquinone natural products from Moneses uniflora

Abstract

A new 1,4-naphthoquinone derivative, 5,8-dihydro-3-hydroxychimaphilin (4) and five known compounds (1, 2 and 5–7) were isolated from an extract of the Canadian medicinal plant Moneses uniflora that significantly inhibited the growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra. The structure of 4 was established through analysis of NMR and MS data and the absolute configuration of the glycone of 5 was determined by chemical transformation and comparison with standards prepared from D- and L-glucose. All compounds isolated were screened against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H37Ra) and the mammalian HEK 293 cell line and, with the exception of compounds 5 and 7, exhibited marked selectivity in their bioactivity: Compound 1 exhibited potent antimycobacterial activity (IC50 of 5.4 μM) and moderate cytotoxicity (IC50 of 30 μM); compounds 2, 4 and 6 showed moderate antimycobacterial activity (IC50 values from 28 to 47 μM) without affecting the viability of mammalian cells; compound 5 displayed moderate activity in both assays (IC50 values of 44 and 55 μM respectively); and compound 7 was not active in either assay. These data suggest that the Moneses napthaquinone derivatives elicit biological responses in mycobacterial and mammalian cells through disparate modes of action that warrant further investigation.