Highly oxygenated steroids with immunosuppressive activity from Solanum undatum

Org Biomol Chem. 2024 Dec 18;23(1):83-89. doi: 10.1039/d4ob01642d.

Abstract

Solanum undatum is a medicinal plant used for the treatment of oedema, rheumatoid arthritis and toothache, from which seven highly oxygenated steroids (1-7), including three new ones (1-3), have been characterized. Compound 1 is a new steroidal carboxylic acid featuring a cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-one moiety and compounds 2 and 3 are new withanolide analogs with a 1,6-dimethyl-3,7-dioxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-2-ol terminus. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by a combination of spectroscopic data, quantum chemical calculations, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and the NMR-based phenylglycine methyl ester (PGME) method. An immunosuppressive activity assay revealed that compounds 2-7 exhibited substantial activities against the proliferation of T and B lymphocytes in vitro, with IC50 values ranging from 1.60 to 7.89 μM and 0.90 to 6.90 μM, respectively. Notably, compound 6 showed selective inhibitory effect toward B cells with the highest selective index (SI = 40.5). Preliminary structure-activity relationships of compounds 1-7 suggest that the terminal 1,6-dimethyl-3,7-dioxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-2-ol or 5,5-spiroacetal moiety is critical for immunosuppressive activity. Our study indicated that they could be promising lead compounds for immunosuppressive agents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • B-Lymphocytes / drug effects
  • Cell Proliferation* / drug effects
  • Immunosuppressive Agents* / chemical synthesis
  • Immunosuppressive Agents* / chemistry
  • Immunosuppressive Agents* / isolation & purification
  • Immunosuppressive Agents* / pharmacology
  • Mice
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Molecular Structure
  • Oxygen / chemistry
  • Solanum* / chemistry
  • Steroids / chemistry
  • Steroids / pharmacology
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • T-Lymphocytes / drug effects

Substances

  • Immunosuppressive Agents
  • Steroids
  • Oxygen