Variegatusides: new non-sulphated triterpene glycosides from the sea cucumber Stichopus variegates semper

Four new triterpene glycosides, variegatusides C-F (1-4), together with three structurally known triterpene glycosides, variegatusides A and B (5, 6), and holothurin B (7), were isolated from the sea cucumber Stichopus variegates Semper (Holothuriidae), collected from the South China Sea. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectral analysis (nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS)) and chemical evidence. Variegatusides C-F exhibit the same structural feature consisting of the presence of a 23-hydroxyl group at the holostane-type triterpene aglycone side chain. Variegatuside C (1) has a double bond (24, 25) in this same chain, while variegatuside D (2) exhibits a 8(9)-ene bond in the holostane-type triterpene aglycone, which has not been extracted from other sea cucumber species. Compound 4 is a native compound from the sea cucumber S. variegates Semper, which has been reported to be desacetylstichloroside B₁. Except for holothurin B, these glycosides have no sulfate group in their sugar chain and show potent antifungal activities in vitro biotests.