Two new alkaloids from the bulbs of Lycoris sprengeri

Abstract

Two new alkaloids, lycosprenine (1) and 2α-methoxy-6-O-methyllycorenine (2), along with 22 known alkaloids (3–23b), were isolated from the bulb of Lycoris sprengeri. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral analysis and by comparison of the spectroscopic data with those of known compounds. Selected compounds (1–3 and 6–9) were tested for their neuroprotective activities against H₂O₂-, CoCl₂- and Aβ_25–35-induced SH-SY5Y cell injury, most of which exhibited neuroprotective effects of different degrees.

Keywords::

• Amaryllidaceae
• Lycoris sprengeri
• alkaloids
• neuroprotective

Acknowledgments

Financial support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (International Cooperative Project, Grant No. 2010DFA32430) and Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos 81072547, 31270394 and 30873361) is gratefully acknowledged.