Five New Diarylbutyrolactones and Sesquilignans from Saussurea medusa and Their Inhibitory Effects on LPS-induced NO Production

• Published in: Planta medica Vol. 89; no. 6; p. 663
• Main Authors: Cao, Jing-Ya, Wang, Zhi-Yao, Stewart, Alan J, Dong, Qi, Zhao, Ye, Mei, Li-Juan, Tao, Yan-Duo, Yu, Rui-Tao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 01.05.2023
• Subjects: Animals; Lignans - pharmacology; Lipopolysaccharides; Mice; Molecular Docking Simulation; RAW 264.7 Cells; Saussurea - chemistry
• ISSN: 1439-0221
• DOI: 10.1055/a-1956-7829

Five new diarylbutyrolactones and sesquilignans (1A/1B:  - 4: ), including one pair of enantiomers (1A/1B: ), together with 10 known analogues (5:  - 14: ), were isolated from the whole plants of . Compound 1: was found to possess an unusual 7,8'-diarylbutyrolactone lignan structure. Separation by chiral HPLC analysis led to the isolation of one pair of enantiomers, (+)-1A: and (-)-1B: . The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic data. All compounds, except compounds 5, 7: and 9: , were isolated from for the first time. Moreover, compounds 1:  -  4, 8: and 10:  - 14: had never been obtained from the genus previously. Compounds (+)- 1A, 2, 5, 7: , and 9:  - 11: were found to inhibit the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced release of NO by RAW264.7 cells with IC values ranging from 10.1 ± 1.8 to 41.7 ± 2.1 µM. Molecular docking and iNOS expression experiments were performed to examine the interactions between the active compounds and the iNOS enzyme.