Immunosuppressive constituents from Urtica dentata Hand

• Published in: Journal of asian natural products research Vol. 12; no. 8; pp. 707 - 713
• Main Authors: Hou, Wen-Rui, Su, Zhi-Qiang, Pi, Hui-Fang, Yao, Guang-Min, Zhang, Peng, Luo, Xiang, Xie, Sheng-Nan, Xiang, Ming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: ABINGDON Taylor & Francis Group 01.08.2010; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; biscoumarin; CD4 Antigens - metabolism; Chemistry; Chemistry, Applied; Chemistry, Medicinal; Coumarins - chemistry; Coumarins - isolation & purification; Coumarins - pharmacology; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - chemistry; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - isolation & purification; Drugs, Chinese Herbal - pharmacology; Forkhead Transcription Factors - metabolism; General pharmacology; Hep G2 Cells; Humans; immunosuppression; Immunosuppressive Agents - chemistry; Immunosuppressive Agents - isolation & purification; Immunosuppressive Agents - pharmacology; Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit - metabolism; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Lymphocytes - drug effects; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Molecular Structure; Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology & Pharmacy; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Physical Sciences; Plant Sciences; Science & Technology; Sincalide - analysis; Spleen - cytology; Spleen - drug effects; Urtica; Urtica dentata Hand; Urticaceae - chemistry; biscoumarin; immunosuppression; Urtica dentata Hand; T-CELL DEVELOPMENT; Root; Pharmacognosy; Coumarine derivatives; Lactone; In vitro; Biological activity; Medicinal plant; Immunomodulator; Urticaceae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; T-Lymphocyte; Plant origin; Urtica; Isolation; Herbaceous plant; Spermatophyta; Immunosuppressive agent; Structural analysis; Below ground plant part
• ISSN: 1028-6020; 1477-2213
• DOI: 10.1080/10286020.2010.490779

A novel biscoumarin, 6,6′,7,7′-tetramethoxyl-8,8′-biscoumarin (1), was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of Urtica dentata Hand, together with five known compounds named as 7,7′-dihydroxy-6,6′-dimethoxy-8,8′-biscoumarin (2), 7,7′-dimethoxy-6,6′-biscoumarin (3), scoparone (4), vanillic acid (5), and daucosterol (6). Structures of the isolated compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis including 2D NMR experiments. Compounds 1 and 2 were confirmed to be a rare carbon-carbon linked symmetrical biscoumarin. Compounds 1-4, especially 1 (IC 50  = 8.18 × 10 − 5  mol/l), showed potent immunosuppressive activities as determined by the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay for lymphocyte proliferation. Also, in the FACS analysis, 1 (IC 50  = 5.19 × 10 − 4  mol/l) promoted the differentiation of CD4 + CD25 + Foxp3 +  T regulatory cells distinctly compared to the normal control. Thus, 1 possessed specific immunosuppressive property by eliciting T regulatory cells, which may provide a potential treatment strategy for autoimmune diseases.