A new lanostane-type terpenoid, lucidenic acid SP1 (1), was isolated from a CHCl(3)-soluble fraction of Ganoderma lucidum spores together with four other known compounds (2 - 5). The structure of lucidenic acid SP1 was determined to be 3 beta,7 beta-dihydroxy-4,4,14 alpha-trimethyl-11,15-dioxo-5 alpha-chol-8-en-24-oic acid by spectroscopic means including 2D-NMR. Twelve triterpenes (1-12) isolated from G. lucidum spores were investigated in vitro for their anticomplementary activity. Compounds 1 - 5 were inactive, whereas ganoderiol F (8), ganodermanondiol (9) and ganodermanontriol (10) showed a strong anticomplement activity against the classical pathway (CP) of the complement system with IC(50) values of 4.8, 41.7, and 17.2 microM, respectively. The potency of these triterpene alcohols (8-10) in inhibiting CP activity was improved when the number of hydroxymethyl groups on the side chain moiety is increased. On the other hand, the ganoderic acids 1-7, which contain a carboxyl group in the side chain, and lucidumols A and B (11, 12) had little activity on this system.

A new pyrrolophenanthridone alkaloid, criasiaticidine A (1), was isolated from the bulbs of Crinum asiaticum var. japonicum, together with pratorimine (2), lycorine (3) and 4-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavan (4). The structure of the new alkaloid was determined to be 4,5-etheno-9,10-dihydroxy-6-phenanthridone by spectroscopic means. The cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds 1-4 was evaluated in vitro against Meth-A (mouse sarcoma) and Lewis lung carcinoma (mouse lung carcinoma) tumor cell lines. Furthermore, 3 was examined for in vivo antitumor activity with LLC tumor cells.

Two triterpene fractions and a single ganoderma alcohol obtained from an antlered form of the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma lucidum were examined for their antitumor effects on the growth of inoculated mouse Lewis lung carcinoma in mice by intraperitoneal administration. The ganoderma alcohol fraction significantly suppressed the tumor growth at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg in the treatment period, and even after the administration, showing antitumor activity with a T/C value of 70.6% at a dose of 100 mg/kg. On the other hand, no obvious activity was shown at each dose in the ganoderma-acid-fraction-treated groups. Furthermore, ganoderiol F, which exhibited the strongest cytotoxicity against four tumor cell lines among five ganoderma alcohols examined, remarkably inhibited the tumor growth, accounting for 63.7% and 78.7% of control group at a dose of 5 mg/kg, 54.1% and 63.0% at a dose of 10 mg/kg, and 47.7% and 53.9% at a dose of 20 mg/ kg in and after the administration period, respectively, in a dose-dependent manner. These results suggest that the antitumor effects of bitter principles in G. lucidum are mainly due to ganoderma alcohols.

ChemInform is a weekly Abstracting Service, delivering concise information at a glance that was extracted from about 100 leading journals. To access a ChemInform Abstract of an article which was published elsewhere, please select a “Full Text” option. The original article is trackable via the “References” option.