Daphnane diterpenoids with nitric oxide inhibitory activities and interactions with iNOS from the leaves of...

A phytochemical investigation to search for new nitric oxide (NO) inhibitors resulted in the isolation of seven previously undescribed daphnane diterpenoids, thyrsoidpenes A-G, from the leaves of Trigonostemon thyrsoideus. Their structures including absolute configurations were elucidated on the basis of extensive NMR spectroscopic data analysis and the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. Thyrsoidpenes B-G feature rare polycyclic caged structures of daphnane diterpenoid orthoester. The NO inhibitory effects were examined and all of the compounds showed inhibitory activities toward LPS-induced NO production in murine microglial BV-2 cells. The possible mechanism of NO inhibition of some bioactive compounds was also investigated using molecular docking, which revealed the interactions of bioactive compounds with the iNOS protein.