Structural elucidation and anti-neuroinflammatory activities of lignans from the testas of Vernicia montana

Vernicia montana Lour. (tung tree) is an oil-producing plant with multiple uses, especially with its great potential in biodiesel production, which was a small Asian tree of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae) with big economic values. However, studies on small molecular compositions of V. montana are limited. As a result, seven new lignans and one new coumacrin, and 21 known lignans, were isolated from the testas of V. montana. These isolates were confirmed in the light of spectroscopic tools (containing 1D and 2D NMR), ECD spectra methods. These isolates and crude extracts were evaluated their inhibitory activities using LPS-induced BV2 cells by assessing the NO production. Among them, compounds 3, 5, 6, 22 displayed significant effects, IC50 values about 11.4-20.9 mu M. Together, the results demonstrated that lignans might be potential neuroinflammatory inhibitors.