This study investigates the antioxidant activity and cytotoxicity of Glossogyne tenuifolia extract on various cancer cell lines. The 5.8s DNA of G. tenuifolia was isolated, and the species of this plant was confirmed by NCBI's DNA database. G. tenuifolia was then extracted with ethanol and separated into several fractions using the partition procedure with water, n-butanol, and ethyl acetate (EA). Among these, the EA fraction most significantly affected the activity of DPPH(*) and superoxide anion scavenging. Additionally, only the EA fraction exhibited cytotoxicity on breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) and liver cancer cells (Hep G2 and Hep 3B). Next, the EA fraction was further separated by column chromatography, and 15 fractions were obtained. Three effective components were isolated and identified separately from the active fractions: oleanolic acid (OA) from fraction 6, luteolin from fractions 8-10, and luteolin-7-glucoside from fraction 12. The test of these three compounds on scavenging activity of DPPH(*) and superoxide anion indicates that luteolin had the highest antioxidant activity, whereas the effect of OA was negligible. Additionally, a synergistic effect between luteolin and luteolin-7-glucoside was observed. Kick-out experiments showed that the activities were vanished or decreased. Especially on MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells, the cytotoxicity completely disappeared when luteolin was eliminated from fractions 8-10. These findings demonstrate that luteolin plays a crucial role in the inhibition of the growth of hepatoma cancer cell lines. Fraction 3, which did not contain luteolin, luteolin-7-glucoside, and oleanolic acid, had cytotoxicity on MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, Hep G2, Hep 3B, and A549, which implies that this fraction contained some other effective ingredients and requires further study. The investigation is currently underway in our laboratory.

There are more than 100 species of the genus Artabotrys throughout tropical Africa and East Asia.1) Artabotrys uncinatus (LAM.) MERR. (Annonaceae) is widely distributed throughout southern Taiwan, and the roots and fruits are used for the treatment of malaria and scrofula.2) Previous literature has shown this genus to contain alkaloids, triterpenoids, lignans, flavonoids, and steroids.2-6) Among them, yingzhaosu analogues showed notable antimalarial activities in vitro; alkaloids showed cytotoxic and antithrombotic activitives. 5) In this study, we investigated the stem parts of A. uncinatus, and two new compounds, 4,5-dioxoartacinatine (1) and 24-methylene lanosta-7,9(11)-diene-3-one (2), along with thirty known compounds: cloven-2b,9a-diol (3), 7) caryolane-1,9b-diol (4), 7) 1-methoxy-9-caryolanol (5), 8) spathulenol (6) (Fig. 3).5) The 13 C-NMR spectrum exhibited the presence of three methyl, two methylene, three methine, and eleven quaternary carbons. In comparison with the literature data, 25) the di-ketone groups in 4,5-dioxoaporphines usually resonate at d C 178 and 157 ppm, respectively. Compound 1 showed the signals at d C 175.0 and 152.4 ppm, which are coincident with the assignments of 4,5-di-ketone groups. H-3 appeared at d H 8.25 indicating the existence of a carbonyl group at the peri-position. The HMBC spectra gave further support for the structure determination of 1, the correlations between 1-OCH 3 and C-1, and 2-OCH 3 and C-2 confirmed the methoxy groups at C-1 and C-2. The correlations between H-3 and C-2/C-11c/C-4, and between N-CH 3 and C-5/C-6a indicated the ketone groups at C-4 and C-5. The significant NOESY correlation between H-7 and H-8 together with the aforementioned assignments also proved the carbonyl group was located at C-11. The above evidence and comparison with the spectral data reported for artacinatine (18), cepharadione-A, and aristolodione indicated the structure of 1 was 4,5-dioxoartacinatine. 25) In our previous study, artacinatine (18) isolated from this plant with the same Dring moiety had been evidenced by X-ray crystalline analysis. Compound 18 possesses a 10a-hydroxyl function. Com- Two new compounds, 4,5-dioxoartacinatine (1) and 24-methylenelanosta-7,9(11)-diene-3-one (2), together with thirty known compounds were isolated and characterized from the stems of Artabotrys uncinatus. Structures of the new compounds were determined by spectral analysis. New Constituents from Stems of Artabotrys uncinatus

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