Further study on anti-inflammatory oxygenated steroids from the octocoral Dendronephthya griffini

Five new steroids, namely griffinisterones F-I (1-4) and griffinipregnone (5) have been isolated from the octocoral Dendronephthya griffini. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis. Compounds 1-3 were found to significantly inhibit the accumulation of the pro-inflammatory iNOS protein of the LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells at 10 microM. At the same concentrations 2 also could significantly inhibit the accumulation of the pro-inflammatory COX-2 protein.