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

Bioorg Med Chem. 2009 Mar 15;17(6):2219-24. doi: 10.1016/j.bmc.2008.10.076. Epub 2008 Nov 5.

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.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

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

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic