Recent progresses in studies on bioactive lignans from plants / 中国中药杂志

Lignans are widely existed in natural world with a variety of structures and bioactivities, including anti-tumor, antiinflammatory, anti-viral and hepatoprotective properties. Along with the development of new techniques in phytochemistry and application of advanced drug screening methods, a variety of lignans have been identified and their bioactivities revealed. In this review, we summarized the activities of six different types of lignans, including arylnaphthalene, dibenzylbutyrolactone, tetrahydrofuran, dibenzylbutane, dibenzocyclooctadiene and neolignan, in order to provide an updated overview of this research field.

Chemical constituents in roots of Polygala fallax and their anti-oxidation activities in vitro / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the chemical constituents in roots of P. fallax and their anti-oxidation activities in vitro.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Column chromatographic techniques were employed for isolation and purification of chemical constituents of the plant. The structures were elucidated on the basis of the spectral evidence and the physical and chemical character. The isolated compounds were screened with four anti-oxidation models in vitro.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Seven xanthones, 1,7-dihydroxy-2,3-methylenedioxyxanthone (1), 1-methoxy-2,3-methylenedioxyxanthone (2), 3-hydroxy-1,2-dimethoxyxanthone (3), 1,6,7-trihydroxy-2,3-dimethoxyxanthone (4), 7-hydroxy-1-methoxy-2,3-methylenedioxyxanthone (5), 1,3-dihydroxy-2-methoxyxanthone (6) and 1,3,7-trihydroxy-2-methoxyxanthone (7), were isolated from the roots of P. fallax. And compounds 1 - 7 showed different anti-oxidation activities in the different pharmacological models.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Compounds 2, 3, 5 and 7 were isolated from this plant for the first time. Xanthones from this plant showed anti-oxidation activities. The pharmacological activities of the pure compounds from this plant were also reported for the first time.</p>