Bufadienolides with cytotoxic activity from the skins of Bufo bufo gargarizans

Twelve new bufadienolides (1–12), along with fourteen known analogues (13–26) were isolated from the skins of Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor. Their chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of NMR, HRESIMS and X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1 was an unusual bufadienolide with 3,19-epoxy moiety and A/B trans ring junction. Compounds 2–4 were rare bufadienolides possessing 10-H or 10-carboxyl units. All the isolated compounds were tested for their cytotoxic effects on HepG2, A549 and HeLa cells. Six new compounds (2, 3, 5, 6, 10 and 12) displayed significant anti-proliferative activities with IC50 values ranging from 0.049 to 1.856 μM. Arenobufagin (24) exhibited the most potent cytotoxic activity with IC50 value 0.011 μM. In addition, the present data provided more insight into the structure–activity relationships of bufadienolides.

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