Two new sesquiterpenoids and two new diterpenoids from Croton lauioides with anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities

Jia-Xin Hu; Qian Liang; Li-Lin Xiao; Rong-Lin Jia; Xiao-Min Su; Li-Ping Liu; Xiahong He; Wen-Hui Xu

doi:10.1016/j.fitote.2025.106384

Two new sesquiterpenoids and two new diterpenoids from Croton lauioides with anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities

Fitoterapia. 2025 Jan 6:106384. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2025.106384. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jia-Xin Hu¹, Qian Liang¹, Li-Lin Xiao¹, Rong-Lin Jia², Xiao-Min Su³, Li-Ping Liu¹, Xiahong He⁴, Wen-Hui Xu⁵

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Yunnan Kunming, 650224, China.
² Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China.
³ School of Biology and Chemistry, Puer University, Puer 665000, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Yunnan Kunming, 650224, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Key Laboratory for Forest Resources Conservation and Utilization in the Southwest Mountains of China, Ministry of Education, Southwest Forestry University, Kunming 650224, China; Yunnan Provincial Key Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of In-forest Resource, Southwest Forestry University, Yunnan Kunming, 650224, China. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39778719
DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2025.106384

Abstract

Two new tropolone-bearing sesquiterpenoids (1-2), two new dolabrane-type diterpenoids (3-4) along with eight known compounds as ionone-type sesquiterpenoid (5), oleanane triterpenoid (6), vanillin and its derivative (7-8), neolignan (9), two lignans (10-11), flavanonol glycoside (12) were isolated from whole plants of Croton lauioides Radcl.-Sm. & Govaerts. The structures of all isolated compounds were elucidated by extensive spectral data including 1D, 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and by comparing their NMR data with those of previously reported compounds. The experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism data were used to determine their absolute configurations. All new compounds (1-4) were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity on LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages, and cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines (HepG2, A-549, MDA-MB-231, HL-60, and SW-480). Compound 2 showed signicant inhibitory activity against NO production with an IC₅₀ value of 16.41 ± 0.48 μM, better than that of L-NMMA (positive control, IC₅₀ = 42.83 ± 0.80 μM), while compound 1 exhibited comparable anti-inflammatory activity with IC₅₀ value of 47.50 ± 0.46 μM. Furthermore, compound 1 was also found to display selective cytotoxicity against human cancer cell line HepG2 with an inhibition rate of 79.09 % at 40.0 μM.

Keywords: Anti-inflammatory; Croton lauioides; Cytotoxic; Diterpenoids; Sesquiterpenoids.