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Published on: August 8, 2025
Bioactive thionic compounds and aromatic glycosides from Ligusticum chuanxiong
Xu Zhang1, Bing Han1, Ziming Feng1
1State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substance and Function of Natural Medicines, Institute of Materia Medica, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100050, China.
Researchers isolated five new compounds from *Ligusticum chuanxiong*, with two glycosides (4 and 5) showing strong inhibition of nitric oxide production in BV2 cells. Compound 1 also exhibited weak PTP1B inhibitory activity.
Area of Science:
- Natural Product Chemistry
- Pharmacology
- Medicinal Chemistry
Background:
- *Ligusticum chuanxiong* (Chuanxiong) is a traditional Chinese medicine with various pharmacological properties.
- Investigating the chemical constituents of *Ligusticum chuanxiong* can lead to the discovery of novel bioactive compounds.
Purpose of the Study:
- To isolate and characterize new chemical compounds from the rhizome of *Ligusticum chuanxiong*.
- To evaluate the anti-inflammatory and enzyme inhibitory activities of the isolated compounds.
Main Methods:
- Isolation of compounds using chromatographic techniques.
- Structure elucidation using extensive spectroscopic data (UV, IR, NMR, HR-ESI-MS).
- Determination of absolute configurations via circular dichroism spectroscopy.
Main Results:
- Five new compounds: three thionic compounds (1-3) and two aromatic glycosides (4-5), along with two known compounds (6-7), were isolated.
- Compounds 4 and 5 demonstrated potent inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in BV2 cells (IC50 values of 2.03 and 3.09 µmol/L, respectively).
- Compound 1 displayed weak inhibitory activity against protein-tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B).
Conclusions:
- The study successfully identified novel thionic compounds and aromatic glycosides from *Ligusticum chuanxiong*.
- Compounds 4 and 5 possess significant anti-inflammatory potential by inhibiting NO production.
- The findings contribute to understanding the chemical diversity and pharmacological value of *Ligusticum chuanxiong*.
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