Withanolides from Physalis minima and their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production

• Six new and five known withanolides were isolated from Physalis minima.
• Compounds 1 and 2 possess an uncommon β,γ-unsaturated ε-lactone in ring A.
• Compounds 2 and 5 showed strong inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production.

Six new withanolides (1–6), including two uncommon 1,10-seco withanolides (1 and 2), together with five known withanolides (7–11), were isolated from the whole plants of Physalis minima Linn.. The structures of new compounds were elucidated through spectroscopic methods, including 1H, 13C NMR, 2D-NMR, HRESIMS and circular dichroism (CD). Inhibitory effects of the isolates on nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccaride-activated RAW264.7 macrophages were evaluated. Compounds 2 and 5 showed strong inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 8.04 and 10.01 μM, respectively. Compounds 1, 9 and 10 exhibited moderate inhibitory activities with IC50 values from 25.54 to 43.58 μM.

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