Seven undescribed phenylpropanoid constituents, including three new bibenzyl derivatives (1–3) along with four new benzofuran stilbene derivatives (4–7), were isolated from the aerial parts of Dioscorea polystachya. The structures of these compounds were elucidated using a combination of spectroscopic analyses, including UV, IR, HRESIMS, 1D, and 2D NMR. Further, all the compounds were evaluated on the anti-inflammatory activity for their inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production by RAW 264.7 macrophages cells, and some of them (1–3 and 6) displayed inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values in the range of 9.3–32.3 μM. Moreover, compound 3 decreased the expression of iNOS in Western blot analysis, suggesting compound 3 is mediated via the suppression of an LPS-induced NF-κB inflammasome pathway.

Three undescribed phenylpropanoid derivatives, including two new bibenzyl constituents (1–2), one new stilbene constituent (3), together with five known compounds stilbostemin F (4), dihydropinosylvin (5), 2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl benzoate (6), 1-(4-hydroxybenzoyl)ethanone (7), and 4-hydroxy-3-prenylbenzoic acid (8), were isolated from the tuber of Asparagus cochinchinensis. The structures of 1–8 were elucidated according to UV, IR, HRMS, 1D and 2D-NMR methods together with the published literature. All of the isolated compounds were assessed for anti-inflammatory activity by acting on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells in vitro. The results showed that compounds 2 and 5 were found to inhibit the production of nitric oxide (NO) with the IC₅₀ value of 21.7 and 35.8 µM, respectively. In addition, further studies found that compound 2 demonstrated concentration-dependent suppression of the protein expression of iNOS and exerted anti-inflammatory activity via the NF-κB signalling pathway. The present data suggest that phenylpropanoid derivatives from the tuber of A. cochinchinensis might be used as a potential source of natural anti-inflammatory agents.

Euphorbia ebracteolata Hayata, a perennial herbaceous plant known as “langdu” in traditional Chinese medicine, utilizes its dried root for treating cancer, ascites, and edema. In this study, a structure-guided chemical investigation of E. ebracteolata led to the identification of 21 secondary metabolites. Notably, five of these were previously undescribed compounds, designated as euphebranones A–E, whose structures were elucidated through comprehensive spectroscopic analysis. Among these, euphebranones B–E were found to be unusual derivatives of ECBs. Given the traditional application of E. ebracteolata in cancer treatment, we screened these new compounds against a panel of tumor cell lines. Interestingly, (±)-euphebranone A, a racemic compound, demonstrated excellent antiproliferation activity against SMMC-7721 cells, with an IC₅₀ value of 0.625 ± 0.039 μM. Mechanistic studies revealed that (±)-euphebranone A induced cell-cycle arrest in the G2/M phase and may inhibit the viability of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by suppressing the EGFR/PTEN and PI3K/AKT signaling pathways.