Bioactive lignan constituents from the twigs of Sambucus williamsii

Abstract

As part of our ongoing search for bioactive constituents of natural Korean medicinal plants, three new lignan derivatives, sambucasinol A–C (1–3), together with 7 known compounds (4–10) were isolated from the twigs of Sambucus williamsii. The structures of these new compounds were determined by a combination of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data analysis, as well as circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy studies. Here, we evaluated the anti-inflammatory effects of 1–10 in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine microglia BV-2 cells. Compounds 1–3 exhibited significant inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production in LPS-activated BV-2 cells, with IC50 values of 6.82, 7.04, and 14.70μM, respectively. Additionally, we evaluated the effects of compounds 1–10 on NGF induction in a C6 rat glioma cell line. Compounds 1–3 upregulated NGF secretion to 183.95±2.63%, 153.99±5.15%, and 155.96±5.15%, respectively, without any significant cell toxicity. Moreover, all isolates were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against A549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, and XF498 cell lines. Compounds 1–3 showed consistent cytotoxicity against the four human cell lines, with IC50 values in the range of 11.07–19.62μM.