Essential Oil Composition of Bupleurum praealtum and Bupleurum affine: New Natural Constituents.

This study explores the chemical composition of essential oils from two Serbian Bupleurum species (Apiaceae), Bupleurum praealtum L. and Bupleurum affine L., traditionally recognized in Chinese medicine for their therapeutic potential but less studied for their essential oils. Through GC-MS analysis, we identified 230 constituents, revealing distinct profiles between the species. Perillyl 2-methylbutanoate was identified in B. affine oil for the first time, confirmed using synthetic approaches and characterized by advanced spectroscopic techniques, including two-dimensional NMR and spin-simulation of 1H NMR spectra. Additionally, new natural compounds, including tentatively identified 4-decyl acetate and 4-undecyl acetate, were discovered. The study also reports five stereoisomeric esters of tetradeca-5,7,9,11-tetraen-1-ol. These findings significantly contribute to the understanding of the phytochemical diversity within the genus Bupleurum and underscore potential differences in ecological adaptations or biosynthetic pathways among species.

Marrubiin Inhibits Peritoneal Inflammatory Response Induced by Carrageenan Application in C57 Mice.

Marrubiin is a diterpene with a long history of a wide range of biological activities. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effects of marrubiin were investigated using several in vitro and in vivo assays. Marrubiin inhibited carrageenan-induced peritoneal inflammation by preventing inflammatory cell infiltration and peritoneal mast cell degranulation. The anti-inflammatory activity was further demonstrated by monitoring a set of biochemical parameters, showing that the peritoneal fluid of animals treated with marrubiin had lower levels of proteins and lower myeloperoxidase activity compared with the fluid of animals that were not treated. Marrubiin exerted the most pronounced cytotoxic activity towards peripheral mononuclear cells, being the main contributors to peritoneal inflammation. Additionally, a moderate lipoxygenase inhibition activity of marrubiin was observed.

Immunomodulatory Constituents of Conocephalum conicum (Snake Liverwort) and the Relationship of Isolepidozenes to Germacranes and Humulanes.

Structural elucidation of three new sesquiterpenoids, namely, (1Z,4E)-lepidoza-1(10),4-dien-14-ol (1), rel-(1(10)Z,4S,5E,7R)-germacra-1(10),6 diene-11,14-diol (2), and rel-(1(10)Z,4S,5E,7R)-humula-1(10),5-diene-7,14-diol (3), isolated from the liverwort Conocephalum conicum, was accomplished by a combination of extensive NMR experiments, 1H NMR simulation, and other means. Additionally, the change of the identity of bicyclogermacren-14-al, previously reported as a C. conicum constituent, to isolepidozen-14-al is proposed. Compounds 2 and 3 appear to be related to 1 via hydration involving a shared intermediate, a substituted cyclopropylmethyl cation, formed by a highly regio- and stereoselective protonation of 1, followed by a stereospecific fission of the three-membered ring. In other words, an isolepidozene derivative might be a branchpoint to humulanes and germacranes; this transformation could be of, up to now, unknown, biosynthetic and/or synthetic relevance. Multivariate statistical analysis of the compositional data of C. conicum extract constituents was used to probe the hypothesized biochemical relations. The immunomodulatory effect of 1-3 and conocephalenol (4) was evaluated in an in vitro model on both nonstimulated and mitogen-stimulated rat splenocytes. The compounds displayed varying degrees of cytotoxicity to nonstimulated splenocytes, whereas 2 and 3 were found to exert immunosuppressive effects on concanavalin A-stimulated splenocytes while not being cytotoxic at the same concentrations.