Lignans from the stems of Sambucus williamsii and their effects on osteoblastic UMR106 cells

Abstract

Three new lignans, sambucunol A (8) ((+)-erythro-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[4-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamoyloxypropanyl)-2-hydroxyphenoxy]-1, 3-propanediol), sambucunol B (9) ((+)-threo-1-(4-hydroxyl-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[4-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-cinnamoyloxy propanyl)-2-hydroxyphenoxy]-1, 3-propanediol) and buddlenol G (10) (2-{4-[2, 3-dihydro-3-hydroxymethyl-7-hydroxy-5-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxycinnamoyloxypropanyl)-2-benzofuranyl]-2,6-dimethoxyphenoxy}-1-(4- hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) -1, 3-propanediol), along with seven known ones, including ( − )-syringaresinol (1), ( − )-pinoresinol (2), 1, 2-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy phenyl)-1, 3-propanediol (3), ( − )-erythro-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[4-(3-hydroxy propanyl)-2-methoxyphenoxy]-1, 3-propanediol (4), ( − )-threo-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-2-[4-(3-hydroxypropanyl)-2-methoxy phenoxy]-1, 3-propanediol (5), ( − )-lariciresinol (6) and ( − )-dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (7), were isolated from the 60% ethanol extract of stems of Sambucus williamsii Hance by chromatographic methods. Their structures were established by spectral analysis. The effects of isolated compounds on the osteoblast-like UMR106 cell proliferation and ALP activities were determined. Compounds 2, 7 and 10 showed stimulating effects both on UMR106 cell proliferation and ALP activity. Compounds 1, 3, 6 and 8 stimulated UMR106 cell proliferation, while compounds 4 and 5 induced ALP activity in UMR106 cell.

Keywords:

• Sambucus williamsii
• Caprifoliaceae
• Lignans
• UMR106 cell
• Proliferation
• ALP activity

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor Zerong Jiang, Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, for the collection and identification of the stems of Sambucus williamsii Hance; Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of Chinese Academy of Science for HREIMS experiments. Thanks are also extended to Fang Xie for help in cell culture experiments, Hao Gao for ESIMS. This work was supported by the Area of Excellence Scheme established under the University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (AOE/r-10/01).