Cytotoxic terpenoids and flavonoids from Artemisia annua.

The cytotoxic activity of nine terpenoids and flavonoids isolated from Artemisia annua was tested in vitro on several human tumor cell lines. These compounds are artemisinin, deoxyartemisinin, artemisinic acid, arteannuin-B, stigmasterol, friedelin, friedelan-3 beta-ol, artemetin, and quercetagetin 6,7,3',4'-tetramethyl ether. Friedelane-type triterpenoids were isolated for the first time from this plant. Artemisinin and quercetagetin 6,7,3',4'-tetramethyl ether showed significant cytotoxicity against P-388, A-549, HT-29, MCF-7, and KB tumor cells.