Chemical Constituents from the Flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. and Their Lung Protective Activity

A new flavonoid, saffloflavanside (1), a new sesquiterpene, safflomegastigside (2), and a new amide, saffloamide (3), together with twenty-two known compounds (4-25), were isolated from the flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. Their structures were determined based on interpretation of their spectroscopic data and comparison with those reported in the literature. The protective effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated damage on human normal lung epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells of the compounds were evaluated using MTT assay and cellular immunofluorescence assay. The results showed that compounds 2-3, 8-11, and 15-19 exhibited protective effects against LPS-induced damage to BEAS-2B cells. Moreover, compounds 2-3, 8-11, and 15-19 can significantly downregulate the level of nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B p-p65. In summary, this study revealed chemical constituents with lung protective activity from C. tinctorius, which may be developed as a drug for the treatment of lung injury.

Automated summary

This study isolated chemical constituents with lung protective activity from Carthamus tinctorius flowers and evaluated their protective effects on lung epithelial cells stimulated by LPS. The results showed that certain compounds could alleviate LPS-induced cell damage and reduce the nuclear translocation of NF-κB p-p65.