Bacillus subtilis partially inhibits African swine fever virus infection in vivo and in vitro based on its metabolites arctiin and genistein interfering with the function of viral topoisomerase II.

IMPORTANCE: African swine fever virus (ASFV) is a highly fatal swine disease that severely affects the pig industry. Although ASFV has been prevalent for more than 100 years, effective vaccines or antiviral strategies are still lacking. In this study, we identified four Bacillus subtilis strains that inhibited ASFV proliferation in vitro. Pigs fed with liquid biologics or powders derived from four B. subtilis strains mixed with pellet feed showed reduced morbidity and mortality when challenged with ASFV. Further analysis showed that the antiviral activity of B. subtilis was based on its metabolites arctiin and genistein interfering with the function of viral topoisomerase II. Our findings offer a promising new strategy for the prevention and control of ASFV that may significantly alleviate the economic losses in the pig industry.

Life-Course Health Risk Assessment of PM2.5 Elements in China: Exposure Disparities by Species, Source, Age, Gender, and Location.

Key stages in people's lives have particular relevance for their health; the life-course approach stresses the importance of these stages. Here, we applied a life-course approach to analyze the health risks associated with PM2.5-bound elements, which were measured at three sites with varying environmental conditions in eastern China. Road traffic was found to be the primary source of PM2.5-bound elements at all three locations, but coal combustion was identified as the most important factor to induce both cancer risk (CR) and noncancer risk (NCR) across all age groups due to the higher toxicity of elements such as As and Pb associated with coal. Nearly half of NCR and over 90% of CR occurred in childhood (1-6 years) and adulthood (>18 years), respectively, and females have slightly higher NCR and lower CR than males. Rural population is found to be subject to the highest health risks. Synthesizing previous relevant studies and nationwide PM2.5 concentration measurements, we reveal ubiquitous and large urban-rural environmental exposure disparities over China.

Atramacronoid A induces the PANoptosis-like cell death of human breast cancer cells through the CASP-3/PARP-GSDMD-MLKL pathways.

Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor and a major cause of mortality among women worldwide. Atramacronoid A (AM-A) is a unique natural sesquiterpene lactone isolated from the rhizome of Atractylodes macrocephala Koidz (known as Baizhu in Chinese). Our study demonstrated that AM-A triggers a specific form of cell death resembling PANoptosis-like cell death. Further analysis indicated that AM-A-induced PANoptosis-like cell death is associated with the CASP-3/PARP-GSDMD-MLKL pathways, which are mediated by mitochondrial dysfunction. These results suggest the potential of AM-A as a lead compound and offer insights for the development of therapeutic agents for breast cancer from natural products.

New caffeoyl derivatives with potent DPPH radical scavenging activity from Elephantopus tomentosus.

Eight new caffeoyl derivatives, elephantomentosides A-H (1 - 8), together with ten known ones (9 - 18), were isolated from the whole plant of Elephantopos tomentosus L. Their structures were elucidated using detailed spectroscopic analysis. Structurally, compounds 1 - 8 are composed of ß-D-glucopyranose, and almost all of the substituent positions are at the C-1' and C-4' of glucopyranose. The anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of all isolated compounds were evaluated in vitro. Compounds 9-10, 13-15, and 17-18 exhibited significant DPPH scavenging capacity with IC50 values in the range of 10.01-25.07 µM, in comparison with Vc (IC50, 17.98 µM).

PSMD12-Mediated M1 Ubiquitination of Influenza A Virus at K102 Regulates Viral Replication.

The M1 of influenza A virus (IAV) is important for the virus life cycle, especially for the assembly and budding of viruses, which is a multistep process that requires host factors. Identifying novel host proteins that interact with M1 and understanding their functions in IAV replication are of great interest in antiviral drug development. In this study, we identified 19 host proteins in DF1 cells suspected to interact with the M1 protein of an H5N6 virus through immunoprecipitation (IP)/mass spectrometry. Among them, PSMD12, a 26S proteasome regulatory subunit, was shown to interact with influenza M1, acting as a positive host factor in IAV replication in avian and human cells. The data showed that PSMD12 promoted K63-linked ubiquitination of M1 at the K102 site. H5N6 and PR8 with an M1-K102 site mutant displayed a significantly weaker replication ability than the wild-type viruses. Mechanistically, PSMD12 promoted M1-M2 virus-like particle (VLP) release, and an M1-K102 mutation disrupted the formation of supernatant M1-M2 VLPs. An H5N6 M1-K102 site mutation or knockdown PSMD12 disrupted the budding release of the virus in chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cells, which was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. Further study confirmed that M1-K102 site mutation significantly affected the virulence of H5N6 and PR8 viruses in mice. In conclusion, we report the novel host factor PSMD12 which affects the replication of influenza virus by mediating K63-linked ubiquitination of M1 at K102. These findings provide novel insight into the interactions between IAV and host cells, while suggesting an important target for anti-influenza virus drug research. IMPORTANCE M1 is proposed to play multiple biologically important roles in the life cycle of IAV, which relies largely on host factors. This study is the first one to identify that PSMD12 interacts with M1, mediates K63-linked ubiquitination of M1 at the K102 site, and thus positively regulates influenza virus proliferation. PSMD12 promoted M1-M2 VLP egress, and an M1-K102 mutation affected the M1-M2 VLP formation. Furthermore, we demonstrate the importance of this site to the morphology and budding of influenza viruses by obtaining mutant viruses, and the M1 ubiquitination regulator PSMD12 has a similar function to the M1 K102 mutation in regulating virus release and virus morphology. Additionally, we confirm the reduced virulence of H5N6 and PR8 (H1N1) viruses carrying the M1-K102 site mutation in mice. These findings provide novel insights into IAV interactions with host cells and suggest a valid and highly conserved candidate target for antiviral drug development.

A novel mAb broadly neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 VOCs in vitro and in vivo, including the Omicron variants.

Novel immune escape variants have emerged as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) continues to spread worldwide. Many of the variants cause breakthrough infections in vaccinated populations, posing great challenges to current antiviral strategies targeting the immunodominance of the receptor-binding domain within the spike protein. Here, we found that a novel broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb), G5, provided efficient protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) in vitro and in vivo. A single dose of mAb G5 could significantly inhibit the viral burden in mice challenged with the mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 variant, as well as the body weight loss and cytokine release induced by mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2. The refined epitope recognized by mAb G5 was identified as 1148 FKEELDKYF1156 in the stem helix of subunit S2. In addition, a human-mouse chimeric mAb was generated based on the variable region of heavy chain and VL genes of mAb G5. Our study provides a broad antibody drug candidate against SARS-CoV-2 VOCs and reveals a novel target for developing pan-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

A compound formulation of EGF-modified paclitaxel micelles and EGF-modified emodin micelles enhance the therapeutic effect of ovarian cancer.

Ovarian cancer is a serious threat to female health, although the incidence of it is relatively low, its mortality rate remains high due to its intense invasion and metastasis. Therefore, it is urgent to explore new treatment strategies for ovarian cancer. In this study, paclitaxel and emodin were encapsulated in different micelles, and loaded on the surface of the micelles with epidermal growth factor (EGF) as the targeting molecule, made compound formulations in proportion. In this study, EGF-modified paclitaxel micelles and EGF-modified emodin micelles were characterized, their inhibitory effects on SKOV3 cell proliferation and invasion were studied in vivo and in vitro, and its targeting ability was confirmed. The results showed that the shape, particle size, zeta potential, release rate, encapsulation rate, polydispersity index, and other physical and chemical properties of EGF-modified paclitaxel micelles plus EGF-modified emodin micelles meet the requirements, and the modification of EGF on the micelle surface could obviously improve the uptake of SKOV3 cells and inhibit the proliferation of SKOV3 cells. The compound formulation can inhibit the invasion and metastasis of ovarian cancer by inhibiting the expression of hypoxia inducible factor-α, MMP-2, MMP-9, and VE-cadherin. The in vivo studies have also showed significant pharmacodynamics results. These results indicated that EGF-modified paclitaxel micelles plus EGF-modified emodin micelles provide a new strategy for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

SARS-CoV-2 Infection Causes Hyperglycemia in Cats.

Isolated reports of new-onset diabetes in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have led researchers to hypothesize that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infects human exocrine and endocrine pancreatic cells ex vivo and in vivo. However, existing research lacks experimental evidence indicating that SARS-CoV-2 can infect pancreatic tissue. Here, we found that cats infected with a high dose of SARS-CoV-2 exhibited hyperglycemia. We also detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in pancreatic tissues of these cats, and immunohistochemical staining revealed the presence of SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein (NP) in islet cells. SARS-CoV-2 NP and spike proteins were primarily detected in glucagon-positive cells, and most glucagon-positive cells expressed ACE2. Additionally, immune protection experiments conducted on cats showed that blood glucose levels of immunized cats did not increase postchallenge. Our data indicate cat pancreas as a SARS-CoV-2 target and suggest that the infection of glucagon-positive cells could contribute to the metabolic dysregulation observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected cats.

Interaction of NEP with G Protein Pathway Suppressor 2 Facilitates Influenza A Virus Replication by Weakening the Inhibition of GPS2 to RNA Synthesis and Ribonucleoprotein Assembly.

The nuclear export protein (NEP) serves multiple functions in the life cycle of influenza A virus (IAV). Identifying novel host proteins that interact with NEP and understanding their functions in IAV replication are of great interest. In this study, we screened and confirmed the direct interaction of G protein pathway suppressor 2 (GPS2) with NEP through a yeast two-hybrid screening assay and glutathione S-transferase-pulldown and co-immunoprecipitation assays. Knockdown or knockout of GPS2 enhanced IAV titers, whereas overexpression of GPS2 impaired IAV replication, demonstrating that GPS2 acted as a negative host factor in IAV replication. Meanwhile, GPS2 inhibited viral RNA synthesis by reducing the assembly of IAV polymerase. Interestingly, IAV NEP interacted with GPS2 and mediated its nuclear export, thereby activated the degradation of GPS2. Thus, NEP-GPS2 interaction weakened the inhibition of GPS2 to viral polymerase activity and benefited virus replication. Overall, this study identified the novel NEP-binding host partner GPS2 as a critical host factor to participate in IAV replication. These findings provided novel insights into the interactions between IAV and host cells, revealing a new function for GPS2 during IAV replication.Importance: NEP is proposed to play multiple biologically important roles in the life cycle of IAV, which largely relies on host factors by interaction. Our study demonstrated that GPS2 could reduce the interaction between PB1 and PB2 and interfere with vRNP assembly. Thus, GPS2 inhibited the RNA synthesis of IAV and negatively regulated its replication. Importantly, IAV NEP interacted with GPS2 and mediated the nuclear export of GPS2, thereby activated the degradation of GPS2. Thus, NEP-GPS2 interaction weakened the inhibition of GPS2 to viral polymerase activity and benefited virus replication.

SARS-CoV-2 rapidly adapts in aged BALB/c mice and induces typical pneumonia.

Age is a risk factor for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated morbidity and mortality in humans; hence, in this study, we compared the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in young and aged BALB/c mice. We found that SARS-CoV-2 isolates replicated in the respiratory tracts of 12-month-old (aged) mice and caused pathological features of pneumonia upon intranasal infection. In contrast, rapid viral clearance was observed 5 days following infection in 2-month-old (young) mice with no evidence of pathological changes in the lungs. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 elicited significantly upregulated production of cytokines, especially interleukin 6 and interferon gamma, in aged mice; whereas this response was much weaker in young mice. Subsequent challenge of infected aged BALB/c mice with SARS-CoV-2 resulted in neutralized antibody responses, a significantly reduced viral burden in the lungs, and inflammation mitigation. Deep sequencing showed a panel of mutations potentially associated with the enhanced infection in aged BALB/c mice, such as the Q498H mutations which are located at the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike (S) protein. We further found that the isolates can not only multiply in the respiratory tract of mice but also cause disease in aged mice. Overall, viral replication and rapid adaption in aged BALB/c mice were associated with pneumonia, confirming that the age-related susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 in mice resembled that in humans.ImportanceAged BALB/c model are in use as a model of disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. Our research demonstrated SARS-CoV-2 can rapidly adapt in aged BALB/c mice through causing mutations at the RBD of the S protein. Moreover, SARS-CoV-2-infected aged BALB/c mice indicated that alveolar damage, interstitial pneumonia, and inflammatory immune responses were similar to the clinical manifestations of human infections. Therefore, our aged BALB/c challenge model will be useful for further understanding the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 and for testing vaccines and antiviral agents.

Oral or intranasal immunization with recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum displaying head domain of Swine Influenza A virus hemagglutinin protects mice from H1N1 virus.

BACKGROUND: Swine influenza A virus (swIAV) is a major concern for the swine industry owing to its highly contagious nature and acute viral disease. Currently, most commercial swIAV vaccines are traditional inactivated virus vaccines. The Lactobacillus plantarum-based vaccine platform is a promising approach for mucosal vaccine development. Oral and intranasal immunisations have the potential to induce a mucosal immune response, which confers protective immunity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the probiotic potential and adhesion ability of three L. plantarum strains. Furthermore, a recombinant L. plantarum strain expressing the head domain of swIAV antigen HA1 was constructed and evaluated for its ability to prevent swIAV infection. RESULTS: The three L. plantarum strains isolated from healthy pig faecal samples maintained the highest survival rate when incubated at pH 3 and at bile salt concentration of 0.3%. They also showed high adherence to intestinal cells. All three L. plantarum strains were monitored in live mice, and no major differences in transit time were observed. Recombinant L. plantarum expressed swIAV HA1 protein (pSIP401-HA1-ZN-3) and conferred effective mucosal, cellular and systemic immune responses in the intestine as well as in the upper respiratory airways of mice. In conclusion, the oral and intranasal administration of L. plantarum strain pSIP401-HA1-ZN-3 in mice induced mucosal immunity and most importantly, provided protection against lethal influenza virus challenge. CONCLUSION: In summary, these findings suggest that the engineered L. plantarum strain pSIP401-HA1-ZN-3 can be considered as an alternative approach for developing a novel vaccine during an swine influenza A pandemic.

Silencing Tautomerization to Isolate Unstable Physalins from Physalis minima.

The inherent structural instability of some physalins has hampered the isolation and identification of these compounds for approximately 50 years, and an effective method to overcome these challenges remains unavailable. In the present study, the unprecedented tautomerization mechanism of unstable physalins was elucidated by performing isotopic labeling experiments and DFT calculations, which led to the successful separation of tautomers and isolation of highly pure products for the first time. As a result, 15 new physalins, physaminins A-O (1-15), as well as 17 known analogues (16-32), were isolated from the whole plants of Physalis minima L. The chemical structures of the new compounds were established by performing a comprehensive analysis of spectroscopic data, and their absolute configurations were confirmed by using computational ECD calculations and/or single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses. All obtained isolates were evaluated for their antiproliferative effects against four human cancer cell lines (A549, HepG2, MCF-7, and SCG-7901) and two noncancerous cell lines (RAW 264.7 and human normal hepatocytes L02), as well as their anti-inflammatory activities by measuring their abilities to inhibit NO production in LPS-stimulated murine RAW 264.7 cells in vitro. Compounds 1-5, 13, 16, 18, 19, 23, and 30 exerted significant antiproliferative effects on the four human cancer lines, with IC50 values ranging from 0.2(0) to 24.7(2) µM, and these compounds were not toxic to the two noncancerous cell lines at a concentration of 10 µM. Moreover, compounds 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 22, and 27 significantly inhibited NO production, with IC50 values ranging from 2.9(1) to 9.5(2) µM.

Elucidating the responses of highly time-resolved PM2.5 related elements to extreme emission reductions.

China's unprecedented lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in early 2020, provided a tragic natural experiment to investigate the responses of atmospheric pollution to emission reduction at regional scale. Primarily driven by primary emissions, particulate trace elements is vitally important due to their disproportionally adverse impacts on human health and ecosystem. Here 14 trace elements in PM2.5 were selected for continuous measurement hourly in urban representative site of Shanghai, for three different phases: pre-control period (1-23 January 2020), control period (24 January-10 February 2020; overlapped with Chinese Lunar New Year holiday) and post control period (11-26 February 2020) the city's lockdown measures. The results show that all meteorological parameters (including temperature, RH, mixing layer height et al.) were generally consistent among different periods. Throughout the study period, the concentrations of most species displayed a "V-shaped" trend, suggesting significant effects by the restriction measures imposed during the lockdown period. While this is not the case for species like K, Cu and Ba, indicating their unusual origins. As a case study, the geographical origins of Cu were explored. Seven major sources, i.e., Vehicle-related emission (including road dust; indicative of Ca, Fe, Ba, Mn, Zn, Cu; accounting for 30.1%), shipping (Ni; 5.0%), coal combustion (As, Pb; 4.2%), Se and Cr industry (24.9%), nonferrous metal smelting (Au, Hg; 7.5%) and fireworks burning (K, Cu, Ba; 28.3%) were successfully pinpointed based on positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis. Our source apportionment results also highlight fireworks burning was one of the dominant source of trace elements during the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. It is worth noting that 56% of the total mass vehicular emissions are affiliated with non-exhaust sources (tire wear, brake wear, and road surface abrasion).

Characterization of the metabolism of aloin A/B and aloesin in rats using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

Aloin A/B and aloesin are the major bioactive constituents in Aloe vera, with diverse pharmacological activities, including anti-bacterial, anti-tumour, anti-inflammatory and intestinal regulation. However, the in vivo metabolism of aloin A/B and aloesin is still unclear. In this study, the metabolic processes of aloin A/B and aloesin in rats were investigated using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) and MetaboLynx™ software with the mass defect filter technique. Based on the proposed method, the prototype components of three compounds were all detected in rat plasma, urine and feces. Meanwhile, 25 aloin A/B metabolites (six phase I, three phase II, 16 phase I combined with phase II) and three aloesin metabolites (two phase I and one phase II) were detected in rats after oral administration of aloin A, aloin B and aloesin, and the main biotransformation reactions were hydroxylation, oxidation, methylation, acetylation and glucuronidation. In addition, aloin A and aloin B can be transformed into each other in vivo and the metabolic profiles of aloin A and aloin B are identical. These results provide essential data for further pharmaceutical research and clinical application of aloin A/B and aloesin.

New caffeoyl derivatives from Elephantopus scaber.

Three new caffeoyl derivatives (1-3), together with two known ones (4-5), were isolated from the whole plant of Elephantopus scaber Linn. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated using detailed spectroscopic analysis. Compound 4 was obtained and its NMR data were given for the first time. All isolates were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated nitric oxide (NO) production and pro-inflammatory cytokines release in RAW 264.7 cells. Compounds 2-5 showed mild inhibitory activities with IC50 values ranging from 64.78 to 87.21 µM, and 3-4 could inhibit LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production.

[Full-cycle Health Management of Multiple Myeloma].

Multiple myeloma is a hematologic tumor characterized by clonal proliferation of plasma cells.The development of novel agents and immunotherapy have substantially improved the prognosis of multiple myeloma,with an expectable median survival beyond ten years.Therefore,there is an urgent need to improve the management of this disease.Health management is effective in controlling chronic diseases and full-cycle management should be implemented from the early to the end stage of the disease.Implanting the full-cycle concept into the health management of multiple myeloma will guide and standardize the advances in this field.This review focuses on the full-cycle concept of multiple myeloma and the corresponding application of health management at each stage of the cycle.

[Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor κB Ligand-Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor κB Signaling Pathway in Myeloma Bone Disease].

Multiple myeloma is an incurable malignant disease characterized by proliferation of clonal plasma cells in the bone marrow.About 90% of the patients with multiple myeloma develop myeloma bone disease(MBD),which seriously affects the quality of life and prognosis of the patients.Traditional therapies for MBD include bisphosphonates,radiotherapy,and surgery.The recent studies have confirmed that the receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL)-receptor activator of nuclear factor κB(RANK) signaling pathway plays a key role in MBD,providing a new therapeutic target for MBD.This review summarized the role of RANKL-RANK signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of MBD and the advance in the targeted therapy.

[Mechanism of Tibetan medicine Pterocephalus hookeri extract in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis based on serum metabonomics].

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF/MS) was used to investigate the effect of Pterocephalus hookeri on serum metabolism of adjuvant arthritis(AA) model rats induced by complete Freund's adjuvant. After the AA model was properly induced, the serum of rats was collected 30 days after treatment. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS chromatograms were collected and analyzed by principal component analysis(PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA). The results revealed that compared with the control group, the model group showed increased content of 12 biomarkers in the serum(P<0.05) and reduced content of the other nine biomarkers(P<0.05). P. hookeri extract could recover the above-mentioned 19 biomarkers to a certain range. Pathway enrichment showed that these markers mainly involved eight metabolic pathways, including valine, leucine, and isoleucine degradation, arachidonic acid metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, glycerol phospholipid metabolism, primary bile acid biosynthesis, bile acid biosynthesis, tryptophan metabolism, and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis. The findings of this study demonstrate that P. hookeri extract can regulate metabolic disorders and promote the regression of metabolic phenotype to the normal level to exert the therapeutic effect on AA rats. This study is expected to provide a certain scientific basis for the biological research on the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by P. hookeri.

Dynamic Ni/V Ratio in the Ship-Emitted Particles Driven by Multiphase Fuel Oil Regulations in Coastal China.

This study aims to investigate the effect of the stepwise marine fuel oil regulations on the concentrations of vanadium (V) and nickel (Ni) in ambient air based on a 4-y (2017-2020) online measurement in Shanghai, a coastal city in China. The annual concentration of V was reduced by 58% due to the switch from Domestic Emission Control Area (DECA) 1.0 to DECA 2.0 and further by 74% after the implementation of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) 2020 regulation, while the reduction rate for Ni was only 27% and then 18% respectively. Consistently, a reduction of 84% in V content and a negligible change in Ni content were measured in 180cst ship oil samples from 2010 to 2020. The similar increasing trend of Ni/V ratios (from <0.4 to >2.0) in both ambient measurement and heavy fuel oil samples suggests that the DECA and IMO 2020 regulations effectively reduced the ambient V. However, nickel content is still enriched in the in-use desulfurized residual oils and ship-emitted particles in coastal China. Meanwhile, the previous ratio between V and Ni cannot be used as a tracer for identifying ship-emitted particles due to its large variation in oils. Further updating of the source profile of ship traffic emissions in coastal cities is necessary in the future.

New stilbenoligan and flavonoid from the roots of Caragana stenophylla Pojark. and their anti-inflammatory activity.

A phytochemical investigation on the 80% ethanol extract of the roots of Caragana stenophylla Pojark. resulted in the isolation of 20 compounds, including two new ones, named kompasinol P (2) and 3,5,7,2',3'-pentahydroxy-4'-methoxyisoflavanone (3). Among them, a pair of enantiomers, (7S, 8 R, 7'R, 8'S)-kompasinol A (1a) and (7 R, 8S, 7'S, 8'R)-kompasinol A (1b), were successfully separated by the chiral-phase HPLC resolution for the first time. The absolute configurations of 1a and 1b were determined by the experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. 15 isolates were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity via inhibiting the production of nitric oxide (NO) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. Compounds 1a/1b, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, and 16-18 showed moderate inhibition with IC50 values ranging from 11.45 to 68.54 µM.