Biological evaluation of phenolic constituents from the trunk of Berberis koreana

A bioassay-guided fractionation and chemical investigation of the trunk of Berberis koreana resulted in the isolation and identification of a new sesquilignan, named berbikonol (1), along with fourteen known lignan derivatives (2–15) and a new phenolic compound, named berfussinol (16), together with five known ones (17–21). The structures of these new compounds were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic data analysis as well as circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy studies. Compounds 1–5, 7–8, 11, and 14 showed significant cytotoxicity against the XF498 cell line with IC50 values of 7.14–19.32 μM. In addition, compounds 3–8 and 15 strongly reduced nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated BV-2 cells, a microglial cell line.

Graphical abstractA bioassay-guided fractionation and chemical investigation of the trunk of Berberis koreana resulted in the isolation and identification of a new sesquilignan, named berbikonol (1), along with 14 known lignan derivatives (2–15) and a new phenolic compound, named berfussinol (16), together with five known ones (17–21).Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide