Structure elucidation and NMR assignments of a new sesquiterpene of volatile oil from Artemisia frigida Willd.

A new sesquiterpene, artefrigin (5), together with four known sesquiterpenes were isolated from the volatile oil of Artemisia frigida Willd. The structure of five was elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including UV, IR, HR-ESI-MS and extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques.

Synthesis and antitumor activity of sacroflavonoside.

Sacroflavonoside, a new derivative of diphenylethene, was isolated from Artemisia sacrorum, which have been found to possess the inhibitory effect on the proliferation of gastric carcinoma cells (MKN-45) in vitro in our previous studies. With anisaldehyde (SM-A) as starting material, the sacroflavonoside was synthesized by nucleophilic addition, electrophilic substitution and dehydration cyclization. The structure of sacroflavonoside was established by 1 D (1H NMR and 13C NMR) and 2 D-NMR (HSQC and HMBC) spectral analysis. The antitumor activity and potential mechanism against MKN-45 cells of sacroflavonoside were evaluated in vitro. The results showed that sacroflavonoside could significantly induce MKN-45 cells apoptosis and autophagy by increasing the expression of Bax, Caspase-3, Beclin1 and LC3-II proteins and decreasing the expression of Bcl-2 protein at low micromole level. This investigation provided a valuable lead structure for the development of antitumor drugs.

Structure elucidation and NMR assignments of a new alkaloid from Panzerina lanata (L.) Soják.

A new alkaloid, named as panalasin (1), was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract from Panzerina lanata (L.) Soják. The structure of 1 was elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including UV, IR, HR-ESI-MS and extensive 1D and 2D NMR techniques.

Antihyperlipidemic Effect, Identification and Isolation of the Lipophilic Components from Artemisia integrifolia.

Artemisia integrifolia L (Compositae) is a medicinal and edible plant. To investigate its antihyperlipidemic effect, a crude lipophilic extract and the composing compounds were isolated and fractioned from the petroleum ether extract of aerial parts of A. integrifolia using column chromatography on silica gel. The anti-hyperlipidemia effect was studied in a rat model of acute hyperlipidemia, which was induced by triton WR-1339. A new compound, integrinol (4), together with nine known compounds, namely chamazulene (1), acetylenes (E)-2 (2), acetylenes (E)-3 (3), eugenol (5), palmitic acid (6), oleic acid (7), linoleic acid (8), linolenic acid (9) and 12,13-epoxylinolenic acid were isolated from the crude lipophilic extract of A. integrifolia. The LD50 value of the crude extract was more than 4g/kg. In Triton WR-1339-induced acute hyperlipidemia model, the crude lipophilic extract (200 mg/kg) significantly reduced total cholesterol (TC) by 70% (p ≤ 0.01) and triglycerides (TGs) by 94% (p ≤ 0.001). The fractioned compounds, such as chamazulene (1), acetylene-2 (2), and linolenic acid (9), used at 4 mg/kg dose, also significantly decreased the concentrations of TC (32%, 33% and 64%, respectively) and TGs (48%, 33% and 93%, respectively). These compounds (i.e., chamazulene, acetylenes (E)-2, and linolenic acid) were considered to be responsible for the bioactive antihyperlipidemic effect. In conclusion, the crude lipid extract of Artemisia integrifolia L could be used as a potential treatment to avert hyperlipidemia. Further studies to confirm these results in other models of hyperlipidemia (e.g., diet-induced obesity) are warranted.