Unprecedented triterpenes with anti-inflammatory activity from Limax maximus

Area of Science:

• Natural Products Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Limax maximus is utilized in traditional Zhuang medicine.
• Triterpenes are a diverse class of natural products with various biological activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To isolate and characterize novel pentacyclic triterpenes from Limax maximus.
• To investigate the potential anti-inflammatory activity of the isolated compounds.

Main Methods:

• Isolation of compounds using chromatographic techniques.
• Structure elucidation via comprehensive spectroscopic analysis (NMR, MS).
• Determination of absolute configurations using single-crystal X-ray diffraction.

Main Results:

• Four unprecedented pentacyclic triterpenes (compounds 1-4) were identified.
• Compounds feature a unique 7/6/5 tricyclic moiety linked to a 6/5 bicyclic moiety.
• Compound 4 exhibited significant inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 cells (47% inhibition at 25 µM).

Conclusions:

• The study reports novel triterpene structures from Limax maximus.
• Compound 4 shows promising anti-inflammatory potential, warranting further investigation.