Studies on Differentiation-Inducing Activities of Triterpenes

Abstract

Differentiation-inducing activity of over 180 extracts of crude drugs and plants was tested using mouse myeloid leukemia cell line (Ml). The methanol extracts of clove (Syzygium aromaticum merrillet perry, Myrtaceae) showed remarkable induction of differentiation of Ml cells into macrophage-like cells. From the extract, oleanolic acid (1) and crategolic acid (2) were isolated as the active components. We also tested other triterpenes, such as oleananes, ursanes and dammaranes, to investigate the structure-activity relationship. Some triterpene aglycones showed differentiation-inducing activity, but triterpene glycosides showed little activity. Futhermore, the differentiation-inducing activity of these triternene compounds was tested against human acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line (HL-60). clove; triterpene; differentiation-inducing activity; phagocytosis; macrophage; Ml cell; HL-60 cell. © 1992, The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.