Constituents of Schisandra verruculosa. and Their Cytotoxic Effect on Human Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract

1,2-bis.-(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropan-1-one (evafolin B, 1), 1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropan-1-one (2), were isolated for the first time from the genus Schisandra., along with abscisic acid (3), 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (4), 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (5), methyl 4-hydroxybenzoate (6), methyl 3,4-dihydroxybenzoate (7), and vanillic acid (8). All the compounds were evaluated for their antitumor, antiproliferative, and antioxidant activities. Only compound 7 exhibited moderate activity against three human cancer cell lines and human lymphocytic proliferation, as well as strong inhibitory activity for DPPH free radicals, only slightly less than ascorbic acid.

Keywords:

• Cytotoxicity
• free radical scavenging activity
• lignan building blocks
• phenylpropanoids
• Schisandra verruculosa