Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Compounds Isolated from the Rhizome of Anemarrhena asphodeloides

Fifteen unreported compounds in Anemarrhena asphodeloides, iriflophene (3), hostaplantagineoside C (7), tuberoside G (8), spicatoside B (9), platycodin D (14), platycoside A (15), platycodin D2 (16), polygalacin D2 (17), platycodin D3 (18), isovitexin (20), vitexin (21), 3,4-dihydroxyallylbenzene-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranoside (22), iryptophan (24), adenosine (25), α-d-Glucose monoallyl ether (26), together with eleven known compounds (1, 2, 4⁻6, 10⁻13, 19 and 23), were isolated from the rhizomes of Anemarrhena asphodeloides. The chemical structures of these compounds were characterized using HRMS and NMR. The anti-inflammatory activities of the compounds were evaluated by investigating their ability to inhibit LPS-induced NO production in N9 microglial cells. Timosaponin BIII (TBIII) and trans-hinokiresinol (t-HL) exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the NO production in a dose-dependent manner with IC₅₀ values of 11.91 and 39.08 μM, respectively. Immunoblotting demonstrated that TBIII and t-HL suppressed NO production by inhibiting the expressions of iNOS in LPS-stimulated N9 microglial cells. Further results revealed that pretreatment of N9 microglial cells with TBIII and t-HL attenuated the LPS-induced expression tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin-6 (IL-6) at mRNAs and protein levels. Moreover, the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathways were inhibited by TBIII and t-HL, respectively. Our findings indicate that the therapeutic implication of TBIII and t-HL for neurogenerative disease associated with neuroinflammation.