Anti-inflammatory lignanamides and monoindoles from Alocasia macrorrhiza

Five new lignanamides (1-5), and one new monoindole alkaloid (6), along with eight known compounds (7-14) were isolated and identified from the rhizomes of Alocasia macrorrhiza (giant taro). All purified compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 cells, and the antiproliferative activities against human nasopharyngeal carcinoma epithelial (CNE-1), human gastric carcinoma (MGC-803), and human breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines by MTT method. Compounds 2, 4, 7 and 8 exhibited significant inhibitory effects on NO production with the IC50 values of 2.35 ± 0.38, 9.20 ± 0.94, 3.45 ± 0.39 and 7.96 ± 0.56 μM, respectively. The results suggested the lignanamides and monoindoles might be responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity of giant taro and might be potential anti-inflammatory candidates.

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