Gymnema sylvestre (Retz.) Schult is a multi-purpose traditional medicine that has long been used for the treatment of various diseases. To discover the potential bioactive composition of G. sylvestre, a chemical investigation was thus performed. In this research, four new C₂₁ steroidal glycosides sylvepregosides A-D (1–4) were isolated along with four known compounds, gymnepregoside H (5), deacetylkidjoladinin (6), gymnepregoside G (7) and gymnepregoside I (8), from the ethyl acetate fraction of G. sylvestre. The structures of the new compounds were established by extensive 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra with mass spectroscopy data. Compounds 1–6 promoted glucose uptake by the range of 1.10- to 2.37-fold, respectively. Compound 1 showed the most potent glucose uptake, with 1.37-fold enhancement. Further study showed that compounds 1 and 5 could promote GLUT-4 fusion with the plasma membrane in L6 cells. The result attained in this study indicated that the separation and characterization of these compounds play an important role in the research and development of new anti-diabetic drugs and pharmaceutical industry.

Background: Abrus cantoniensis Hance. (Ac) and Abrus mollis (Am), two edible and medicinal plants with economic value in southern China, belong to the Abrus genus. Due to its growth characteristics, Am often replaces Ac in folk medicine. However, the latest National Pharmacopeia of China only recommends Ac. The differences in the metabolite composition of the plants are directly related to the differences in their clinical efficacy. Results: The difference in metabolites were analyzed using an untargeted metabolomic approach based on ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC‒ESI‒MS/MS). The roots (R), stems (S) and leaves (L) of the two varieties were examined, and 635 metabolites belonging to 8 classes were detected. A comparative study revealed clear variations in the metabolic profiles of the two plants, and the AmR group had more active ingredients (flavonoids and terpenoids) than the AcR group. The metabolites classified as flavonoids and triterpene saponins showed considerable variations among the various samples. Both Ac and Am had unique metabolites. Two metabolites (isovitexin-2''-xyloside and soyasaponin V) specifically belong to Ac, and nine metabolites (vitexin-2"-O-galactoside, ethyl salicylate, 6-acetamidohexanoic acid, rhein-8-O-glucoside, hederagenin-3-O-glucuronide-28-O-glucosyl(1,2)-glucoside, methyl dioxindole-3-acetate, veratric acid, isorhamnetin-3-O-sophoroside-7-O-rhamnoside, and isorhamnetin-3-O-sophoroside) specifically belong to Am. Conclusions: The metabolite differences between Ac and Am cause the differences in their clinical efficacy. Our findings serve as a foundation for further investigation of biosynthesis pathways and associated bioactivities and provide guidance for the clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine.

We report herein the design and synthesis of a series of novel acridine-triazole and acridine-thiadiazole derivatives. The newly synthesized compounds and the key intermediates were all evaluated for their antitumor activities against human foreskin fibroblasts (HFF), human gastric cancer cells-803 (MGC-803), hepatocellular carcinoma bel-7404 (BEL-7404), large cell lung cancer cells (NCI-H460), and bladder cancer cells (T24). Most of the compounds exhibited high levels of antitumor activity against MGC-803 and T24 but low toxicity against human normal liver cells (LO2), and their effect was even better than the commercial anticancer drugs, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cis-platinum. Further, pharmacological mechanisms such as topo I, cell cycle, cell apoptosis, and neovascularization were all evaluated. Only a few compounds exhibited potent topo I inhibitory activity at 100 μM. In addition, the most active compounds with an IC₅₀ value of 5.52–8.93 μM were chosen, and they could induce cell apoptosis in the G2 stage of MGC-803 or mainly arrest T24 cells in the S stage. To our delight, most of the compounds exhibited lower zebrafish cytotoxicity but could strongly inhibit the formation of zebrafish sub-intestinal veins, indicating a potential for clinical application.

Four new triterpenoid saponins, tigensides A–D (1–4), and one new C₂₁ steroid, tipregnane A(9), together with six known compounds were isolated from the EtOAc fraction of the roots and stems of Gymnema tingens.

A pair of new isocoumarin derivative enantiomers, (S)-(-)-3-(3,3-dichloro-2-hydroxy-propyl)-4-chlorine-6,8-dihydroxy-isochromen-1- one (1a) and (R)-(+)-3-(3,3-dichloro-2-hydroxy-propyl)-4-chlorine-6,8-dihydroxy-isochromen-1- one (1 b), as well as seven known compounds (2–8) were isolated from Ludwigia hyssopifolia. Compounds 1a and 1 b were confirmed to be a pair of enantiomers by chiral HPLC-CD analysis, and the structure of compound 1 was determined by spectroscopic analyses including extensive 1 D (¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR) and 2 D NMR spectra (COSY, HSQC and HMBC) and MS data. And the absolute configurations of compounds 1a and 1 b were determined by the quantum chemical ECD calculations. Compounds 2–8 are firstly reported from this plant. In the in vitro assays, compounds 5 and 8 can inhibit human laryngeal cancer Hep-2 cell line growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner. In addition, compounds 2 and 4 have effects on increasing glucose uptake in vitro. Compound 2 showed a strong glucose uptake in L6 cells, with enhancements by 1.8 folds.