Two new diterpene derivatives from Euphorbia lunulata Bge and their anti-proliferative activities

Abstract A new ent -abietane-type diterpene lactone ( 1 ) and a new jatrophane-type diterpenoid ( 2 ), together with twelve known compounds including three diterpenes ( 3 – 5 ), five triterpenes ( 6 – 10 ) and four sterides ( 11 – 14 ) were isolated from the ethanol extract of the whole plant of Euphorbia lunulata Bge. The structure of compounds 1 and 2 was elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectra and the HR-ESI-MS data. The structure of compound 2 was further analyzed by an X-ray crystallographic study. The in vitro anti-proliferative activities against MCF-7 and NCI-H460 cell lines for compounds 1 – 5 (diterpene) were evaluated. The results showed marked activity for compound 1 against the two cell lines with the IC 50 values 19.5 (NCI-H460) and 18.6 (MCF-7) μM, while for cis -platinum (a positive cytotoxic control agent) 29.7 (NCI-H460) and 27.7 (MCF-7) μM. Compounds 2 – 5 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activities for the two cell lines with the IC 50 values ranging from 32.1 to 58.2 μM.