Hypolipidemic properties of atroposides

Abstract

Steroids of the spirostan and furostan series exhibit a broad spectrum of biological effects. These compounds possess antitumor [1], antimierobial [2], fungicidal [3], and antiviral [4] activities, and are capable of decreasing blood cholesterol level [5] and producing antioxidant action [6]. These steroids can be obtained from many species of plants belonging to various genera and families such as Dioscoreaceae, Solanaceae, and Liliaceae. We have found for the first time new steroid glycosides, called atroposides, in the seeds of Atropa belladonna L. from the Solanaceae family. EXPERIMENTAL CHEMICAL PARTWe studied the seeds of A. belladonna obtained at the "Giaginskii" collective farm in Krasnodar Province. To obtain spirostan glycosides, the air-dry seeds were ground, degreased with chloroform, and multiply extracted with 70% aqueous methanol. The methanol extract was evaporated to aqueous residue, which was treated several times with butanol. The butanol extracts were concentrated in a vacuum and dissolved in a small amount of methanol Finally, the total glycosides were precipitated with acetone, filtered, and dried. The presence of steroid glycosides was determined by TLC. The spots were visialized by the Sanyo and Ehrlich reagents. The total antroposide yield was 3.95% of the initial raw material weight.The sum of antroposides was separated into individual fractions by methods of gel-filtration on sephadex and adsorption-partition chromatography on silica gel, using various solvent systems: chloroform-methanol (4: 1), chloroform-methanol-water (65 : 35 : 10).The structure of aglycone and the qualitative composition of monosaccharides in the carbohydrate fraction of glycosides were determined by a method of complete acid hydrolysis. The aglycone structures were identified with those of tigogenin and diosgenin. The oligosaccharide fraction ineluded glucose, rhamnose, and galactose.In order to prove the structure of spirostan glycosides from A. belladonna, we used the methods of partial acid hy-