Cytotoxicity and Synergistic Effect of the Constituents from Roots ofAglaia odorata(Meliaceae)

Bing Liua & You-Kai Xua*a Key Laboratory of Tropical Plant Resources and Sustainable Use, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla 666303, Yunnan, China* Corresponding author. Email: xyk@xtbg.ac.cnTwelve compounds were isolated from the roots of Aglaia odorata. Their structures were established on the basis of NMR and MS data as rocaglaol (1), rocaglamide (2), eichlerialactone (3), sapelins A (4), isofouquierone (5), eichlerianic acid (6), shoreic acid (7), agladupol E (8), 3-epimeliantriol (9), cleomiscosins B (10), 2β,3β-dihydroxy-5α-pregnane-16-one (11) and β-d-glucopyranos-1-yl N-methylpyrrole-2-carboxylate (12). Among them, compounds 1 and 2 showed significant cytotoxicity against human cancer cell (HL-60, SMMC-7721, A-549, MCF-7 and SW480) with IC50 values of 0.007–0.095 μM, while compounds 3–5 and 10 and 11 showed moderate to no cytotoxicity (IC50 0.43 to values >40 μM). Compound 6 showed only weak cytotoxicity (IC50 6.87 to >40 μM) and its epmier 7 was completely inactivite (IC50>40 μM) in the assay. However, potent synergistic effect was observed when the molar ratio of 6 to 7 is between 4:1 and 1:1.