Structure-activity relationships of saponins and cardiac glycosides. III. Beta-L-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-alpha- and -beta-D-glucopyranosides.

Comparisons of the biological activities of diosgenyl, methyl glycyrrhetinate or digitoxigenyl 3-O-beta-L-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside with those of other previously tested glycosides confirmed our assumption that both the hemolytic and antifungal activities of steroid saponins are generally parallel to each other, while almost all hemolytic triterpenoid saponins and nonhemolytic ones have no antifungal activity, and that cardiac diglycosides having a (1-->4) sugar linkage have stronger activities than those with a (1-->6) or a (1-->2) linkage. On the other hand, the case of the diosgenyl 3-O-beta-L-xylopyranosyl-(1-->6)-alpha-D-glucopyranoside didn't conform to the above assumption, but those of methyl glycyrrhetinate and digitoxigenyl did.