Cytotoxic triterpenoids from Berberis koreana.

A bioassay-guided fractionation and chemical investigation of the trunk of Berberis koreana led to the isolation and identification of three new triterpenoids, 2 α,3 α,19 α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-24-formyl-28-oic acid (1), 2 α,3 β,21 α-trihydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid ( 2), and 3 β-acetyloxy-1-oxo-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (3), along with seven known triterpenoids (4-10). The structures of these new compounds were determined through spectral analysis, including extensive 2D-NMR data. The new compounds 1-3 showed significant cytotoxicity against the A549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, and HCT-15 human tumor cell lines with IC(50) values ranging from 7.17 to 48.73 µM.