Anti-complementary activity of ursane-type triterpenoids from Weigela subsessilis

Abstract

A new ursane-type triterpenoid, weigelic acid (1), and seven known compounds, ursolic acid (2), ilekudinol A (3), corosolic acid (4), ilekudinol B (5), esculentic acid (6), pomolic acid (7), and asiatic acid (8) were isolated from the leaf and stem of Weigela subsessilis. The structure of the new triterpenoid was established as 1β,2α,3α,23-tetrahydroxyurs-12- en-28-oic acid on the basis of spectroscopic analyses. In addition, the isolated compounds were evaluated for their anti-complement activity against the classical pathway of the complement system. Of these, compounds 1 - 2 and 4 - 8 exhibited anti-complement activity with IC50 values of 152, 90, 130, 51, 56, 4, and 163 μM, respectively, whereas 3 was inactive. This shows that a carboxylic group of ursane-type triterpenoids seems to play an important role in inhibiting the hemolytic activity of human serum against erythrocytes. © 2006 Pharmaceutical Society of Japan.