Alepposides, cardenolide oligoglycosides from Adonis aleppica

The Genus Adonis as an Important Cardiac Folk Medicine: A Review of the Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry and Pharmacology

The genus Adonis L. (Ranunculaceae), native to Europe and Asia, comprises 32 annual or perennial herbaceous species. Due to their cardiac-enhancing effects, Adonis spp. have long been used in European and Chinese folk medicine. These plants have been widely investigated since the late 19th century, when the cardiovascular activity of Adonis vernalis L. was noted in Europe. The present paper provides a review of the phytochemistry, biological activities and toxicology in order to highlight the future prospects of the genus. More than 120 chemical compounds have been isolated, with the most important components being cardiac glycosides as well as flavones, carotenoids, coumarins and other structural types. Plants of the genus, especially A. vernalis L. and A. amurensis Regel & Radde, their extracts and their active constituents possess broad pharmacological properties, including cardiovascular, antiangiogenic, antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and acaricidal activities, and exhibit both diuretic effects and effects on the central nervous system. However, most plants within the 32 species have not been comprehensively studied, and further clinical evaluation of their cardiovascular activity and toxicity should be conducted after addressing the problem of the rapidly decreasing resources. This review provides new insight into the genus and lays a solid foundation for further development of Adonis.

Cytotoxic cardenolide glycosides from the root of Reevesia formosana

Bioassay-guided fractionation of the root tissue of Reevesia formosana led to isolation of 13 cardenolide glycosides, reevesiosides A-I and epi-reevesiosides F-I. Their structures were determined by means of spectroscopic analysis and single-crystal X-ray diffraction was performed using reevesioside A. Reevesioside A, reevesioside F, and epi-reevesioside F displayed especially potent cytotoxicity against the MCF-7 and NCI-H460 cancer cell lines, with IC(50) values of 63±2 and 19±1, 72±8 and 20±0, and 34±6 and 10±1 nM, respectively. Identification of the sugar constituents and unusual 18,20-epoxide cardenolide glycosides are described herein. Cardiac glycosides were previously unknown in the Sterculiaceae family.

Occurrence of progesterone and related animal steroids in two higher plants

Previously, the presence of a wide variety of chemically diverse steroids has been identified in both flora and fauna. Despite the relatively small differences in chemical structures and large differences in physiological function of steroids, new discoveries indicate that plants and animals are more closely related than previously thought. In this regard, the present study gathers supporting evidence for shared phylogenetic roots of structurally similar steroids produced by these two eukaryotic taxa. Definitive proof for the presence of progesterone (3) in a vascular plant, Juglans regia, is provided. Additional evidence is gleaned from the characterization of five new plant steroids from Adonis aleppica: three 3-O-sulfated pregnenolones (6a/ b, 7), a sulfated H-5beta cardenolide, strophanthidin-3-O-sulfate (8), and spirophanthigenin (10), a novel C-18 oxygenated spirocyclic derivative of strophanthidin. The ab initio isolation and structure elucidation (NMR, MS) of these genuine minor plant steroids offers information on preparative metabolomic profiling at the ppm level and provides striking evidence for the conserved structural space of pregnanes and its congeners across the phylogenetic tree.

Cardenolides from Saussurea stella with cytotoxicity toward cancer cells

Three new cardenolides, 3-O-beta-D-fucopyranosylstrophanthidin (1), 3-O-beta-D-quinovopyranosylperiplogenin (2), and 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 --> 4)-alpha- l-rhamnopyranosylcannogenin (3), together with seven known cardenolides (4- 10), were isolated from a cytotoxic ethanol extract of the whole dried plants of Saussurea stella. The structures of these compounds were established by spectroscopic and chemical methods. When the cytotoxicity of compounds 2- 10 toward Bel-7402 human hepatoma cells and BGC-823 human gastric cancer cells was evaluated, all compounds showed IC 50 values of <1 microM for both cell lines. This is the first report of cardenolides occurring in a species of the family Asteraceae.

Cyanogenic allosides and glucosides from Passiflora edulis and Carica papaya

Leaf and stem material of Passiflora edulis (Passifloraceae) contains the new cyanogenic glycosides (2R)-beta-D-allopyranosyloxy-2-phenylacetonitrile (1a) and (2S)-beta-D-allopyranosyloxy-2-phenylacetonitrile (1b), along with smaller amounts of (2R)-prunasin (2a), sambunigrin (2b), and the alloside of benzyl alcohol (4); the major cyanogens of the fruits are (2R)-prunasin (2a) and (2S)-sambunigrin (2b). The major cyanogenic glycoside of Carica papaya (Caricaceae) is 2a; only small amounts of 2b also are present. We were not able to confirm the presence of a cyclopentenoid cyanogenic glycoside, tetraphyllin B, in Carica papaya leaf and stem materials. In detailed 1H NMR studies of 1a/b and 2a/b, differences in higher order effects in glucosides and allosides proved to be valuable for assignment of structures in this series. The diagnostic chemical shifts of cyanogenic methine and anomeric protons in 1a/b are sensitive to anisotropic environmental effects. The assignment of C-2 stereochemistry of 1a/b was made in analogy to previous assignments in the glucoside series and was supported by GLC analysis of the TMS ethers.