New Neolignans from Spiraea formosana

Current Progress and Outlook for Agrimonolide: A Promising Bioactive Compound from Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb

Agrimonolide (AM), which is a derivative of isocoumarins, is found mainly in the herb Agrimonia pilosa Ledeb. This compound is highly lipophilic and readily crosses the blood–brain barrier. In recent years, interest has grown in the use of AM as a multitarget natural treatment for various diseases, such as cancer, inflammation, hepatic injury, myocardial damage, and diabetes mellitus. The potential mechanisms of these pharmacological effects have been clarified at cellular and molecular levels. AM shows no cytotoxicity over a range of concentrations in different types of cells, providing evidence for its good safety profile in vitro. These findings indicate that AM is a promising medicinal agent. However, most studies on AM’s pharmacological activities, mechanisms of action, and safety lack substantial animal or human data. Additionally, the pharmacokinetics, metabolism, and disposition of this compound have received little attention. This review highlights the status of current information regarding the sources, properties, pharmacological effects, and safety of AM. Furthermore, potential strategies to resolve problematic issues identified in previous studies are fully discussed. This summary and analysis of the research progress of AM may inspire deeper investigations and more extensive applications of AM in the future.

Phytoconstituents and Bioactivity of Plants of the Genus Spiraea L. (Rosaceae): A Review

The genus Spiraea L. belongs to the Rosaceae Juss. family and includes more than 100 species distributed in the temperate zone and subtropical zone of the Northern Hemisphere at the center of species diversity in East Asia. Representatives of the genus are known as ornamental plants with many forms and varieties, are widely used in conventional medicine, and have a high resource potential. This review provides information on the diversity of phenolic compounds (flavonoids, phenolcarboxylic acids, and lignans), terpenoids, alkaloids, steroids, and other classes of secondary metabolites in the species of Spiraea worldwide. The article also presents little-known and hard-to-find data published in Russian concerning Spiraea phytochemistry. The biological activities of extracts and their fractions and of individual compounds having different types of biological activity (e.g., antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antifungal) are discussed. Data about biotechnological research on representatives of the genus Spiraea are presented too. The analysis of the literature showed that further chemical and pharmacological studies on Spiraea plants are quite promising.

Phytochemical and pharmacological investigation of Spiraea chamaedryfolia: a contribution to the chemotaxonomy of Spiraea genus

Objective

Diterpene alkaloids are secondary plant metabolites and chemotaxonomical markers with a strong biological activity. These compounds are characteristic for the Ranunculaceae family, while their occurrence in other taxa is rare. Several species of the Spiraea genus (Rosaceae) are examples of this rarity. Screening Spiraea species for alkaloid content is a chemotaxonomical approach to clarify the classification and phylogeny of the genus. Novel pharmacological findings make further investigations of Spiraea diterpene alkaloids promising.

Results

Seven Spiraea species were screened for diterpene alkaloids. Phytochemical and pharmacological investigations were performed on Spiraea chamaedryfolia, the species found to contain diterpene alkaloids. Its alkaloid-rich fractions were found to exert a remarkable xanthine-oxidase inhibitory activity and a moderate antibacterial activity. The alkaloid distribution within the root was clarified by microscopic techniques.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-017-3013-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Bioactive constituents from transformed root cultures of Nepeta teydea

A phytochemical study of an extract from transformed root cultures of Nepeta teydea, induced by Agrobacterium rhizogenes, led to the isolation of the following new compounds: the sesquiterpene (-)-cinalbicol, the diterpene teydeadione (6,11,14-trihydroxy-12-methoxy-abieta-5,8,11,13,15-penten-7-one), a degraded C23-triterpene (teydealdehyde) and three fatty acid esters of lanosta-7,24-dien-3β-ol. The propyl ester of rosmarinic acid was also isolated for the first time from a natural source. In addition, two dehydroabietane diterpenes, eight triterpenes and eighteen known phenolic compounds were obtained. The antifeedant, cytotoxic and phytotoxic activities of the isolated compounds have also been investigated.

Five new iridoids from roots of Salvia digitaloides

Five new iridoids, salvialosides A-E (compounds 1-5), together with fifty known compounds were isolated from the roots of Salvia digitaloides. The structures of the new compounds were completely elucidated using a combination of 2D NMR techniques (COSY, NOESY, HMQC and HMBC) and HR-ESI-MS analyses. The known compounds were identified by comparison of their spectroscopic and physical data with those reported in the literature.

Hemiterpene glucosides and other constituents from Spiraea canescens

Five glycosides, 2-(trans-cinnamoyloxy-methyl)-1-butene-4-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1), 4-(6'-O-trans-cinnamoyl)-(2-hydroxymethyl-4-hydroxy-butenyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2), 6''-O-trans-p-coumaroyl-(4-hydroxybenzoyl)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3), 6'-O-(4-methoxy-trans-cinnamoyl) alpha/beta-D-glucopyranose (4) 6'-O-(4''-methoxy-trans-cinnamoyl)-kaempferol-3-beta-D-glucopyranoside (7) along with six known compounds, (+)-isolariciresinol 3a-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (8) (+)-lyoniresinol 3a-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (9), apigenin 7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (10), quercetin 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (11), 6'-O-cinnamoyl-alpha/beta-D-glucopyranose (6) 6'-O-p-coumaroyl-alpha/beta-D-glucopyranose (5) were isolated from the whole plant of Spiraea canescens. Some of these compounds showed potent radical scavenging activity in relevant non-physiological assays. Their structures were determined by NMR spectroscopic and CID mass spectrometric techniques.

Chemical constituents from Abutilon indicum

The investigation on the chemical constituents of the whole plant of Abutilon indicum has resulted in the isolation of two new compounds, abutilin A (1) and (R)-N-(1'-methoxycarbonyl-2'-phenylethyl)-4-hydroxybenzamide (2), as well as 28 known compounds. The structures of the two new compounds were established on the basis of the spectroscopic analysis, and the known compounds were identified by comparison of their spectroscopic and physical data with those reported in the literature.

Cytotoxic arylnaphthalene lignans from Phyllanthus oligospermus

Three new arylnaphthalene lignans, namely phyllanthusmins A-C, together with nine known compounds were isolated and characterized from the stems and roots of Phyllanthus oligospermus by a bioassay-guided purification. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by means of spectroscopic data interpretation. Among them, phyllanthusminA displayed significant cytotoxicity against KB and P-388 cancer cell lines.