Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Chemical Constituents Isolated from the Willow Bracket Medicinal Mushroom Phellinus igniarius (Agaricomycetes)

Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) has an important role in immune response and inflammation. Phellinus igniarius (known as Sang huang in traditional Chinese medicine) has various pharmacologic effects. In this study, 19 chemical constituents (1-19) were isolated from the fruiting bodies of Ph. igniarius. Their structures were elucidated based on data from nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and comparison with the literature. Overall, 3 compounds (2, 7, and 11) from this species were reported, to our knowledge for the first time. Two compounds (4 and 15) from the genus Phellinus and 9 compounds (1, 3, 5, 8-10, and 12-14) from the Hymenochaetaceae family were also reported for the first time. An NF-kappa B luciferase reporter assay of these compounds was carried out in tumor necrosis factor-alpha-induced HeLa cells-again, to our knowledge for the first time. Among them, compounds 5 and 7 showed moderate inhibition of NF-kappa B, with fold values of 0.48 +/- 0.02 and 0.55 +/- 0.09, respectively, in HeLa cells at 100 mu mol/L. These results suggest that some of the ingredients from Ph. igniarius could be developed into antiinflammatory agents for use in clinical applications.