Abstract:
Three limonoids were isolated and purified from the 95%, 85% ethanol extracts of
Melia azedarach using silica gel column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, MCI column chromatography, and preparative RP-HPLC. Their structures were determined based on physicochemical properties and spectral data, and they were identified as 29-
O-ethyl neoazedarachin D (
1), 29-
O-meliarachin G (
2), toosendanin (
3). Compound
1 is a new limonoid, while compound
2 is a new natural product isolated from plants for the first time. The
in vitro anti-hepatocarcinoma activities of compounds
1-
3 were evaluated by MTT assay. The results showed that compounds
1-
3 exhibited different degrees of inhibitory effects on both HepG-2 and Hep3B cell lines, and the inhibitory effect of compound
3 on HepG-2 cells was comparable to that of the positive drug cisplatin. In addition, compounds
1-
3 exhibited IC
50 values of 38.67 ± 1.336, 28.21 ± 1.028 and 8.21 ± 1.231 μg·mL
-1 against HepG-2 cells, and 47.36 ± 1.008, 35.69 ± 1.217 and 15.10 ± 1.017 μg·mL
-1 against Hep3B cells, respectively.