Bioactivity-guided isolation of cytotoxic constituents of Brucea javanica collected in Vietnam.

Abstract

Five new triterpenoids (1-5), together with two known quassinoids, bruceantin (6) and bruceine A (7), and a known flavonolignan, (-)-hydnocarpin (8), were isolated from the chloroform-soluble subfraction of a methanol extract of the combined twigs, leaves, and inflorescence of Brucea javanica collected in Vietnam. The structures of the new compounds 1-5 were established on the basis of spectroscopic methods. All isolates were evaluated for cytotoxicity against a small panel of human cancer cell lines. Quassinoids 6 and 7 were found to be highly active against these cell lines. (-)-Hydnocarpin (8) showed a potentiating effect when combined with both 6 and 7, during cytotoxicity testing using the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line.

• Authors: Li Pan, Young-Won Chin, Hee-Byung Chai, Tran Ngoc Ninh, Djaja Djendoel Soejarto, A Douglas Kinghorn
• Journal: Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry (Bioorg Med Chem) Vol. 17 Issue 6 Pg. 2219-24 (Mar 15 2009) ISSN: 1464-3391 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 19026551 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)

Chemical References

• Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic

Topics

• Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic (chemistry, isolation & purification, pharmacology)
• Brucea (chemistry)
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor
• Humans
• Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
• Molecular Structure
• Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
• Vietnam