New phenanthrenequinones from Cymbidium ensifolium roots and their anti-inflammatory activity on lipopolysaccharide-activated BV2 microglial cells.

The roots of Cymbidium ensifolium yielded a total of 17 compounds, comprising two new compounds (1-2), one new natural product (3), and 14 known compounds (4-17). The structures of new compounds were determined through the analysis of their spectroscopic data, including NMR, MS, UV, FT-IR, optical rotation, and CD. The anti-inflammatory activity of the isolated pure compounds was assessed using lipopolysaccharide-activated BV2 microglial cells. Compounds 1, 3, 6, 12, 14, and 16 showed the ability to reduce LPS induced NO release in BV2 microglial cells, with IC50 values of 9.95 ± 2.13, 8.77 ± 3.78, 2.39 ± 0.91, 6.69 ± 2.94, 2.96 ± 1.38, 8.42 ± 2.99 µM, respectively and reduced the secretion of proinflammatory mediators (TNF-α, IL-6, MCP-1) in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, the mechanistic role of the compound 3 was determined, which demonstrated its ability to inhibit the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway through decreasing phosphorylation of p65 subunits.

A new phenanthrene with a spirolactone ring from Dendrobium ochreatum.

Dendroochreatene (1), a new phenanthrene derivative with a spirolactone ring, was isolated from the whole Dendrobium ochreatum plant together with 11 known compounds (2-12). The structure of the new compound was elucidated spectroscopically and phenolic compounds were firstly reported from D. ochreatum. Moscatilin (4), major compound isolated from D. ochreatum, was found to be cytotoxic toward H460 lung-cancer cells, with an IC50 value of 147.3 ± 0.9 µM, while loddigesiinol C (7), C-α-methoxy derivative was inactive.

New Phenolic Glycosides from Coelogyne fuscescens Lindl. var. brunnea and Their Cytotoxicity against Human Breast Cancer Cells.

The phytochemical investigation of the whole plants of Coelogyne fuscescens Lindl. var. brunnea led to the discovery of three new phenolic glycosides, i.e., coelofusides A-C (1-3) and 12 known compounds (4-15). For the first time, we reported the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data of 4-O-(6'-O-glucosyl-4″-hydroxybenzoyl)-4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol (4) in this study. The identification of the structures of newly discovered compounds was done through the analysis of their spectroscopic data [NMR, mass spectrometry, ultraviolet, Fourier transform infrared, optical rotation, and circular dichroism (CD)]. In comparison to anticancer drugs (i.e., etoposide and carboplatin), we evaluated anticancer potential of the isolated compounds on two different breast cancer cell lines, namely, T47D and MDA-MB-231. Human fibroblast HaCaT cells were used as the control cells. After a 48 h incubation, flavidin (8), coelonin (10), 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (11), and oxoflavidin (12) showed significant cytotoxic effects against breast cancer cells. Among them, oxoflavidin (12) exhibited the most potent cytotoxicity on MDA-MB-231 with an IC50 value of 26.26 ± 4.33 µM. In the nuclear staining assay, oxoflavidin induced apoptosis after 48 h in both T47D and MDA-MB-231 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, oxoflavidin upregulated the expression of apoptotic genes, such as p53, Bax, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, caspase-3, and caspase-9 genes while significantly decreasing antiapoptotic protein (Bcl-2) expression levels.

α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activity and Anti-Adipogenic Effect of Compounds from Dendrobium delacourii.

Chemical investigation of Dendrobium delacourii revealed 11 phenolic compounds, and the structures of these compounds were determined by analysis of their NMR and HR-ESI-MS data. All compounds were investigated for their α-glucosidase inhibitory activity and anti-adipogenic properties. Phoyunnanin E (10) and phoyunnanin C (11) showed the most potent α-glucosidase inhibition by comparing with acarbose, which was used as a positive control. Kinetic study revealed the non-competitive inhibitors against the enzyme. For anti-adipogenic activity, densifloral B (3) showed the strongest inhibition when compared with oxyresveratrol (positive control). In addition, densifloral B might be responsible for the inhibition of adipocyte differentiation via downregulating the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and CCAAT enhancer-binding protein alpha (C/EBPα), which are major transcription factors in adipogenesis.

Three Novel Biphenanthrene Derivatives and a New Phenylpropanoid Ester from Aerides multiflora and Their α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activity.

A phytochemical investigation on the whole plants of Aerides multiflora revealed the presence of three new biphenanthrene derivatives named aerimultins A-C (1-3) and a new natural phenylpropanoid ester dihydrosinapyl dihydroferulate (4), together with six known compounds (5-10). The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by analysis of their spectroscopic data. All of the isolates were evaluated for their α-glucosidase inhibitory activity. Aerimultin C (3) showed the most potent activity. The other compounds, except for compound 4, also exhibited stronger activity than the positive control acarbose. Compound 3 showed non-competitive inhibition of the enzyme as determined from a Lineweaver-Burk plot. This study is the first phytochemical and biological investigation of A. multiflora.

New Fluorene Derivatives from Dendrobium gibsonii and Their α-Glucosidase Inhibitory Activity.

Two new compounds, dihydrodengibsinin (1) and dendrogibsol (2), were isolated from the whole plant of Dendrobium gibsonii, together with seven known compounds (3-9). The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by their spectroscopic data. All these isolates were evaluated for their α-glucosidase inhibitory activities. Dendrogibsol (2) and lusianthridin (7) showed strong α-glucosidase inhibitory activity when compared with acarbose. An enzyme kinetic study revealed that dendrogibsol (2) is a noncompetitive inhibitor of α-glucosidase.