Chemical constituents from the branches of Alangium barbatum and their anti-inflammatory activities

Two new sesquiterpenes (1 and 2), one new alkaloid (4), one new neolignan glycoside (14), together with 19 known compounds were isolated from the branches of Alangium barbatum. Their structures were established by spectroscopic analysis. The absolute configuration of 21 was determined for the first time by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis with Cu-K alpha irradiation. Some of isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on NO production in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. Compounds 1, 3 and 9 at 10 mu M concentrations exhibited mild inhibitory effects on NO production in the range of 25.0 to 32.4. Moreover, these compounds at 25 mu M concentration were also found to mildly suppress NF-kappa B activation in TNF-alpha induced expression of NF-kappa B-Luc in Hela cells with inhibition percent in the range of 15.0 to 25.0%.