Xuetonglactones A-F: Highly Oxidized Lanostane and Cycloartane Triterpenoids From Roxb. Craib.

Xuetonglactones A-F (-), six unreported highly oxidized lanostane- and cycloartane-type triterpenoids along with 22 known scaffolds (-) were isolated from the stems of (Roxb.) Craib. Compared with previous congeners, xuetonglactone A (), possesses an unprecedented 20,21-α-epoxide, and xuetonglactone D () features an unusual 19-α-hydroperoxyl moiety. The structures and the absolute configurations of the compounds were established by extensive one- and two-dimensional NMR, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectroscopic analysis, with those of and confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique. Compounds and exhibited inhibition of iNOS activity in LPS-induced macrophages with IC values of 22.0, and 17.0 μg/mL, respectively. While compounds , , , and showed potent cytotoxic activities against human cervical cancer cell lines (HeLa) with the IC values of 4.0, 5.8, 5.0, and 6.4 μM, and against human gastric cancer cells (BGC 823) with the IC values of 2.0, 5.0, 2.5, and 2.0 μM, respectively. Moreover, plausible biogenetic pathways of (-) were also proposed.