Chemical constituents with inhibition against TNF-α from Merrillanthus hainanensis

Two new steroidal glycosides oxystauntoside A (1) and oxystauntoside B (2), together with sixteen known compounds (3-18) were isolated from the 95% ethanol extract of Merrillanthus hainanensis. Their structures were characterized by extensive spectroscopic analysis including NMR and mass spectra and single crystal X-ray crystallography. The absolute configuration of 1 and 2 were further determined by ECD calculations. All of these compounds were isolated from M. hainanensis for the first time. All the fractions and compounds were tested for the anti-inflammatory activity against the TNF-α factor. The ethyl acetate fraction showed the most potent inhibition (71.3%) at 10 μg/mL and compounds 5 (78.9%) and 9 (73.4%) in this fraction with both carboxyl and phenolic hydroxyl groups showed significant inhibition at 10 μM. Our study provided the first scientific report for the medicinal value of M. hainanensis.