Novel Cucurbitane Triterpenes from the Tubers of Hemsleya amabilis with Their Cytotoxic Acitivity

Abstract

Chemical research of the medicinal plant Hemsleya amabilis (Cucurbitaceae) yielded five new cucurbitane-type triterpenes hemslelis A–E (1–5) by silica gel column, ODS column, and semi-HPLC techniques. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analysis and examined alongside existing data from prior studies. Compounds 1–5 were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against three human tumor cell lines, Hela, HCT-8, and HepG-2, with the IC50 ranging from 5.9 to 33.9 μM compared to Cisplatin.

Five New Cucurbitane-Type Triterpenoid Glycosides from the Rhizomes of Hemsleya penxianensis with Cytotoxic Activities

“…Besides, HMBC correlations of H-6 with C-5 (δ C 143.7) and C-7 (δ C 22.5), H-24 with C-23 (δ C 71.8), C-25 (δ C 135.7), and C-27 (δ C 23.2), H-12 with C-11 (δ C 214.4) implied that olefinic groups were at C-5 and C-25, and a carbonyl group was at C-11. Comprehensive comparison of the NMR data of 1 with those of the known compound hemslelis A [10] suggested that compound 1 was an analogue of hemslelis A, except that compound 1 contained one D-glucose and lost a carbonyl group at C-7. The location of the sugar unit was located at C-26 by an O atom due to the HMBC correlations (Figure 2) from the proton signal at δ H 4.85 (H-26) to anomeric carbon at δ C 103.9, and the signal for C-26 revealed a powerful downfield shift to δ 68.0 (+6.8 ppm).…”

“…Previous phytochemical reports have indicated that Hemsleya spp.possess rich terpenoid compounds including diterpenes, triterpenes, and particularly cucurbitane triterpenoid glycosides, which are efficient in the cureof all kinds of inflammation and cancers [5,6,7,8,9,10]. In prior research, our studies led to the disclosure of nineteen new cucurbitane-type triterpenoids that have shown significant anti-tumor cytotoxicity [11,12,13].…”