Abstract
Phytochemical investigation of a methanol extract of Stixis scandens stems and leaves led to the isolation of 3 nitrogen-containing compounds (
Introduction
Stixis Lour. is a small genus of the family Capparaceae, consisting of 9 species and one subspecies endemic to Southeast Asia.
1
Six Stixis species have been described in the Flora of Viet Nam, some of which are used as traditional medicines.2,3 S. scandens Lour. is a medicinal plant, widely distributed in the northern regions of Viet Nam. The leaves, stems, and roots of this species are mainly used as folk medicine for the treatment of rheumatism, arthralgia, and eye diseases. There have been a few phytochemical investigations on Stixis species indicating the presence of alkaloids, L-stachydrine, and glucosinolates.4,5 In previous studies, from S. suaveolens we isolated 2 new phenolic amides, stixilamides A and B,
6
together with 23 known compounds.7‐9 To date, only one phytochemical report on S. scandens has been published, showing the presence of alkaloids.
4
This study describes the isolation and structural elucidation of 2 new nitrogen-containing glycosides (
Results and Discussion
By sequential Diaion HP-20 column chromatography (CC) (MeOH–H2O), silica gel CC (CH2Cl2–MeOH), silica gel RP-18 CC (CH2Cl2–MeOH), and HPLC (J'sphere M-80 150 mm × 20 mm, eluting with ACN in H2O, a flow rate of 3 mL/min), 2 new compounds named scandemide (
Compound
Stixilenin (

Structures of compounds

Key HMBC and COSY correlations of compounds
The biological activities of S. suaveolens, as well as of other Stixis species, are not well known, but anti-inflammation appears to be the most common biological activity found for phenolic glycosides.
19
Therefore, we screened and evaluated the inhibitory activity of NO production of the 9 phenolic glycosides (
Inhibition of NO Production in Macrophage RAW264.7 Cells of Compounds
Abbreviation: L-NMMA, N-monomethyl-L-arginine; NO, nitric oxide.
Positive control.
Conclusion
Two new glycosides (
Materials and Methods
General Experimental Procedures
HR-ESI-MS were run on a Sciex X500R QTOF mass spectrometer (Framingham, MA, USA). The 1H NMR (600 MHz) and 13C NMR (125 MHz) spectra were recorded on a Bruker Avance III 600 spectrometer with tetramethylsilane (TMS) as the internal standard and values were given in ppm (δ). Optical rotation was measured on a Jasco P-2000 polarimeter, and IR spectra on a PerkinElmer Spectrum Two FT-IR Spectrometer by dispersion of the sample in KBr. Gas chromatographic (GC) spectra were recorded on a Shimadzu-2010 spectrometer. Column chromatography was carried out on silica gel 60 (0.040-0.063 mm, Merck), Diaion HP-20 resins, RP-18 (30-50 μm, Fuji Silysia Chemical), and Sephadex LH-20 (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech). HPLC for column chromatography J'sphere ODS-H80, 250 × 20.0 mm I.D. Thin layer chromatography was performed on silica gel 60F254 (0.25 mm, Merck) and RP-18 F254S plates (1.15685.0001, Merck). The compounds on the plates were observed under UV light (at 254 and 365 nm) and by spraying with a solution of vanillin/sulfuric acid and heating at 150 °C to 200 °C. All other chemicals and reagents were of analytical grade. Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM), fetal bovine serum (FBS), L-glutamine, 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine ethane sulfonic acid (HEPES), penicillin, streptomycin, fungizone (PSF), LPS, MTT, and NG-monomethyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. The Griess reagents were obtained from Promega.
Plant Material
The stems and leaves of Stixis scandens were collected in Xuan Dai Commune, Xuan Son District, Phu Tho Province in August 2020, and identified by Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, VNU University of Science. A voucher specimen (HNU-024662) was deposited at the HNU Herbarium at VNU University of Science.
Extraction and Isolation
The dried powder of S. scandens stems and leaves (5 kg) was extracted 3 times with MeOH-H2O (95:5, v/v) at room temperature. The extract was filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure in a rotary evaporator at 45 °C to give a methanol residue (400 g). This was suspended in water and successively partitioned with n-hexane, and CH2Cl2. The remaining aqueous layer was fractionated by Diaion HP-20 CC by eluting with a gradient of MeOH in H2O (25:1→100:0, v/v) to afford 4 fractions (W1-W4). Fraction W2 (24.5 g) was chromatographed on a silica gel column eluted with a gradient system of CH2Cl2–MeOH (30:1→1:1, v/v) to give 5 sub-fractions (W2.1-W2.5). Fraction W2.4 was re-chromatographed on a silica gel RP-18 column (MeOH–H2O = 1:2.5, v/v) to afford 4 sub-fractions (W2.4.1-W2.4.4). Sub-fraction W2.4.1 was subjected to a silica gel column (CH2Cl2–MeOH = 12:1, v/v), and then purified by HPLC (J'sphere M-80, YMC, Kyoto, Japan; 150 mm × 20 mm column, eluting with 14% ACN in H2O, a flow rate of 3 mL/min) to give compound
Scandemide (
Stixilenin (
Acid Hydrolysis
Each compound (
Cell Culture
RAW264.7 cells were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC). The cells were maintained in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) supplemented with 10% FBS, 2 mM L-glutamine, 10 mM HEPES, and 1% PSF. The cells were cultured in a humidified incubator with 5% CO2 at 37 °C and subcultured every 3 days.
MTT Assay
Cytotoxicity of compounds was determined by the MTT method. Briefly, the cells were seeded in a 96-wells plate at a density of 5 × 104 cells/well. After incubating overnight in the incubator, the medium was discarded and changed by FBS free medium. Then, the cells were treated with the compound at different concentrations for 2 h before being stimulated with 1 µg/mL LPS for 24 h. To determine the proliferation of the cells, MTT was added to the medium for 4 h. The medium was removed and the crystals were dissolved by adding 100 µL to the well. The optical density was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) reader (Biotek) at 540 nm. The percentage of living cells was calculated related to the control group.
NO Inhibition Assay
RAW264.7 cells were cultured in the presence of the compounds at different concentrations while L-NMMA was used as the positive control in the same concentration range. After stimulation with LPS (1 µg/mL) for 24 h, NO production was indicated by the quantity of nitrite in the medium using the Griess assay. The cell medium and Griess reagent system were mixed together at a 1:1 ratio in a 96-well plate for 10 min. The optical density was measured at 540 nm using a microplate reader. A fresh culture medium was used as the blank in all experiments. The nitrite concentration in the medium was calculated from a sodium nitrite standard curve. The NO inhibition activities were calculated using the formula: % inhibition = 100% − [amount NOsample/amount NOLPS]*100.
Supplemental Material
sj-docx-1-npx-10.1177_1934578X221148621 - Supplemental material for Two New Nitrogen-Containing Glycosides From Stixis scandens
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-npx-10.1177_1934578X221148621 for Two New Nitrogen-Containing Glycosides From Stixis scandens by Tran Thi Yen, Nguyen Thanh Tam, Nguyen Thanh Thi Kim and Vo Ngoc Binh, Nguyen Thao Kim Nu, Ngo Quoc Anh in Natural Product Communications
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (grant no. ĐLTE00.07/21-22).
Supplemental Material
Supplemental material for this article is available online.
References
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