Hypolipidemic activity of monacolin derivatives from the highland barley Monascus purpureus

ABSTRACT

A new monacolin derivative, namely (1S,2S,5'R,6R,8aR)-7-hydroxy-2,6-dimethyl-8-prenyl-1,2,6,8atetrahydronaphthalene-4',5'-dihydro-2H-pyran-1'-one (1), and five known monacolin derivatives (2-6) were separated from the highland barley Monascus purpureus Went. for the first time. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and relevant references. Compounds 1-6 were tested for their hypolipidemic activities by measuring the triglyceride content in HepG2 cells. Among them, compounds 1 and 2 (10 M) exhibited moderate hypolipidemic activity.