A new diarylheptanoid from the bark of Alnus japonica

Abstract

A new diarylheptanoid, epihirsutanonol (1), was isolated from the bark of Alnus japonica, along with two known ones (2 and 3). Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic evidence. The new compound 1 showed significant hepatoprotective activity on the basis of t-butylhydroperoxide-induced hepatocyte injury in vitro assay.

Keywords:

• Alnus japonica
• diarylheptanoid
• epihirsutanonol
• hepatoprotective activity

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Priority Research Center Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (2009-0093815), Republic of Korea.