Lignans from the rhizomes of Coptis japonica differentially act as anti-inflammatory principles.

Coptis japonica Makino (Ranunculaceae) is known to possess several biological activities such as anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, five lignans, isolariciresinol (1), lariciresinol glycoside (2), pinoresinol (3), pinoresinol glycoside (4) and syringaresinol glycoside (5), isolated from the rhizomes of C. japonica were tested to evaluate their in vitro anti-inflammatory effects. Pinoresinol and isolariciresinol showed higher inhibitory effects on TNF-alpha production, whereas syringaresinol glycoside strongly suppressed lymphocyte proliferation. The results indicate that the lignans may differentially modulate inflammatory cell responses, suggesting that these compounds may participate in anti-inflammatory processes by C. japonica.