Cytotoxic constituents from the leaves and stems of Panax quinquefolius

Four new isolates including one new butanediamide glycoside (1), one new flavonoid glycoside (2) and two new flavonone glycosides (3, 4) were identified from the leaves and stems of Panax quinquefolius, among which 1 possessed the firstly reported N,N'-(5-hydroxy-1,3-phenylene) butanediamide skeleton with an unique 6/9 ranged dual-ring structure. The structures were elucidated by the NMR data, ECD analysis and chemical acid hydrolysis. All the compounds (1-4) were tested for their cytotoxicity against two human cancer cell lines of HepG(2), A549 and HCT116 by the MTT method. Outstandingly, compound 1 exhibited targeted inhibitory proliferation of HCT116 cell with IC50 value of 12.1 mu M, whereas compounds 3 and 4 exhibited targeted inhibitory proliferation of HepG(2) cell with IC50 values of 15.3 and 17.3 mu M, as well as no obvious cytotoxicity of compounds 1-4 against A549.

Automated summary

Four new compounds were isolated from Panax quinquefolius, and their structures were elucidated. These compounds exhibited cytotoxic activity against human cancer cell lines, with compound 1 showing the strongest targeted inhibitory effect on HCT116 cells.