A new alkaloid isolated from leaves of Carthamus tinctorius / 中草药

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the alkaloids from leaves of Carthamus tinctorius. Methods The alkaloids were isolated and purified by silica gel, MCI, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatographies, and semi-preparative HPLC, and their structures were elucidated by physical and spectroscopic analysis. Results A new β-carboline alkaloid, 4,9-dimethoxy-1-ethyl-β-carboline (1) along with one known analogue 4-methoxy-1-ethyl-β-carboline (2), were isolated from the leaves of C. tinctorius. Compounds 1 and 2 showed the cytotoxicity against HepG2 cell lines with IC50 values of (15.2 ± 0.58) μmol/L and (17.4 ± 0.33) μmol/L, respectively. Conclusion Compounds 1 and 2 are firstly obtained from Carthamus genus, and compound 1 is a new compound named carthine A. Both compounds 1 and 2 exhibited cytotoxicity against HepG2 cell lines.