The methanol extract of the leafy covers of Corylus avellana, source of the Italian PGI (protected geographical indication) product "Nocciola di Giffoni", afforded two new cyclic diarylheptanoids, giffonins T and U (2 and 3), along with two known cyclic diarylheptanoids, a quinic acid, flavonoid-, and citric acid derivatives. The structures of giffonins T and U were determined as highly hydroxylated cyclic diarylheptanoids by 1D and 2D NMR experiments. Their relative configurations were assigned by a combined quantum mechanical/NMR approach, comparing the experimental C/H NMR chemical shift data and the related predicted values. The absolute configurations of carpinontriol B (1) and giffonins T and U (2 and 3) were assigned by comparison of their experimental electronic circular dichroism curves with the TDDFT-predicted curves. The ability of the compounds to inhibit the lipid peroxidation induced by HO and HO/Fe was determined by measuring the concentration of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances. Furthermore, the antimicrobial activity of the methanol extract of leafy covers of C. avellana and of the isolated compounds against the Gram-positive strains Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus and the Gram-negative strains Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was evaluated. Carpinontriol B (1) and giffonin U (3) at 40 μg/disk caused the formation of zones of inhibition.

Two new diaryl ether heptanoids, giffonins J and K (1 and 2), along with five new diarylheptanoids, giffonins L-P (3-7), were isolated from a methanol extract of the leaves of Corylus avellana cultivar "Tonda di Giffoni". These compounds were identified as highly hydroxylated cyclized diarylheptanoids by 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments. The relative configurations of giffonins J-P (1-7) were established by a combined QM (quantum mechanical)/NMR approach, comparing the experimental (13)C/(1)H NMR chemical shift data and the related predicted values. The cytotoxic activities of giffonins J-P (1-7) were evaluated against the human osteosarcoma U2Os and SAOs cell lines.

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This article is part of a themed section on Principles of Pharmacological Research of Nutraceuticals. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.11/issuetoc.

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We report a new potent revisited version of a triazole-based inhibitor obtained by structure-based drug design on the human mPGES-1 crystal structure. Moreover, we disclosed the substitution with a halogen atom at position 5 as a new key factor influencing the biological activity on the mPGES-1 enzym