Novel dammarane-type saponins from Gynostemma pentaphyllum and their neuroprotective effect

Three novel dammarane-type saponins, 2α,3β,12β,20(S),24(S)-pentahydroxydammar-25-ene-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-20-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1, namely gypenoside J1), 2α,3β,12β,20(S),25-pentahydroxydammar-23-ene-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-20-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2, namely gypenoside J2) and 2α,3β,12β,20(S)-tetrahydroxydammar-25-en-24-one-3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-20-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (3, namely gypenoside J3) along with one known gypenoside (gypenoside LVII) were isolated from the aerial parts of G. pentaphyllum using various chromatographic methods. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of IR, 1D- (¹H and ¹³C), 2D-NMR spectroscopy (HSQC, HMBC and COSY), and mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS). Their activity was tested using CCK-8 assay. These four compounds showed little anti-cancer activity with IC₅₀ values more than 100 μM against four types of human cancer lines. The effects of them against H₂O₂-induced oxidative stress in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were evaluated and they all showed potential neuroprotective effects with 3.64-18.16% higher cell viability than the H₂O₂-induced model group.