Chemical Constituents from the Flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. and Their Lung Protective Activity.

A new flavonoid, saffloflavanside (1), a new sesquiterpene, safflomegastigside (2), and a new amide, saffloamide (3), together with twenty-two known compounds (4-25), were isolated from the flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. Their structures were determined based on interpretation of their spectroscopic data and comparison with those reported in the literature. The protective effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated damage on human normal lung epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells of the compounds were evaluated using MTT assay and cellular immunofluorescence assay. The results showed that compounds 2-3, 8-11, and 15-19 exhibited protective effects against LPS-induced damage to BEAS-2B cells. Moreover, compounds 2-3, 8-11, and 15-19 can significantly downregulate the level of nuclear translocation of NF-κB p-p65. In summary, this study revealed chemical constituents with lung protective activity from C. tinctorius, which may be developed as a drug for the treatment of lung injury.

Iridoid glycosides and lignans from the fruits of Gardenia jasminoides Eills.

Four previously undescribed iridoid glycosides, including two bis-iridoid glycosides, and three undescribed lignans, together with 16 known analogues, were isolated from the fruits of Gardenia jasminoides Eills. Their structures were elucidated on basis of spectroscopic methods, and the absolute configurations of three of the unknown compounds were determined by interpretation of their electronic circular dichroic (ECD) and [α] [Formula: see text] data. The α-glucosidase inhibitory effects of the isolated compounds were evaluated and all the compounds exhibited slightly inhibitory activity with the values of IC50 greater than 50 µM.