Two New Ursane-type Triterpenoid Glycosides from Ilex Cornuta

Ilex cornuta (1.cornuta)is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)that has been used in clinical practice for hundreds of years.In order to provide more information about the chemical basis of its pharmacological effects,phytochemical investigation on the roots of L cornuta was conducted in this study.The roots of the plant were firstly extracted with 95% EtOH,and then the crude was partitioned with petroleum ether,EtOAc and n-butyl alcohol.Different chromatographies were employed to isolate the crude step by step and the crude was further purified by semipreparative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).As a result,two new triterpenoid saponins (1,2),together with 12 known compounds (3-14),were isolated from the roots of I. cornuta.Their structures were determined based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR),mass spectrum (MS)technologies,chemical reactions as well as gas chromatography (GC).Compounds 4,6,8,11,12 and 13 were isolated from this genus for the first time.The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were determined as 3β-O-α-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→3)-α-L-2-O-acetylarabinopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D glucopyranosyl-23-hydroxyl-20α(H)-urs-12-en-28-oic acid 28-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl ester (1)and 3β-O-α-D-xylopyranosly-(1→3)-α-L-2-O-acetylarabinopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-19α,23-dihydroxyl-20α(H)-urs-12-en-28-oic acid 28-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl ester(2).

Anti-inflammatory Activity of Mollugin on DSS-induced Colitis in Mice

We aimed to explore the anti-infammatory bactivity of mollugin extracted from Rubia cordifolia L,a traditional Chinese medicine,on dextran sulfate sodium(DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis(UC)in mice.Thirty C57BL/6 mice were divided into a control group(n=6),a model group(n=6),and three experimental groups(40,20,10 mg/kg of mollugin,n=6 each).DSS solution(3%)was given to mice in the model group and experimental groups from day 4 to day 10 to induce the mouse UC model.Mice in the experimental groups were intragastrically administrated mollugin from day 1 to day 10.Animals were orally given distilled water in the control group for the whole experiment time and in the model group from day 1 to day 3.The changes in colon pathology were detected by hematoxylin and eosin(HE)staining.Interleukin-1β(IL-1β)in the serum,and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)and interferon-γ(IFN)in the tissues were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay.Expression levels of Toll-like receptor 4(TLR4)and myeloid differentiation factor 88 in the colon tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry.Results showed that mollugin could significantly reduce weight loss and the disease activity index in the DSS-induced UC mouse model.HE examinations demonstrated that mollugin treatment effectively improved the histological damage(P<0.05).The overproduction of IL-Iβand TNF-α was remarkably inhibited by mollugin treatment at doses of 20 and 40 mg/kg(P<0.05).Additionally,the levels of TLR4 in colon tissues were significantly reduced in mollugin-treated groups compared with the DSS group.Our findings demonstrated that mollugin ameliorates DSS-induced UC by inhibiting the production of pro-inflammatory chemocytokines.

Two new ent-kaurane diterpenoids from the aerial parts of Isodon excisoides

Two new ent-kaurane diterpenoids, ent-7α,14β-dihydroxykaur-16-en-15-one-20-oic acid （1） and 1,7α,12β,14β-tetrahydroxy-1,10-seco-ent-kaur-10,16-dien-15-one （2）, together with six known ones （3-8）, were isolated from the EtOAc extract of the aerial parts of lsodon excisoides. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of 1D NMR and 2D NMR analyses as well as HR-ESI-MS experiments.