Discovery of Thai mangrove tetranortriterpenoids as agonists of human pregnane-X-receptor and inhibitors against human carboxylesterase 2.

Abstract Human pregnane–X–receptor (hPXR) is considered to be the key target for the treatment of cholestasis and liver injury. Agonists of hPXR are potential drug leads. Potent and selective inhibitors of human carboxylesterase 2 (hCES2) could be utilized to alleviate the toxicity induced by ester drugs. In this work, fifteen new tetranortriterpenoids with structure diversity, named thaigranatins F–T (1–15), including four limonoids containing a C1–O–C29 bridge (1–4), four mexicanolides (5–8), three phragmalins (9–11), two limonoids belonging to the small group of trichiliton A (12–13), and two apotirucallanes (14–15), were isolated from seeds of the Thai mangrove, Xylocarpus granatum. The structures of these compounds were established by high resolution-electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy, extensive NMR spectroscopic investigations, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses, and the comparison of experimental electronic circular dichroism spectra. Most notably, thaigranatins L (7) and P (11) exhibited agonistic effects on hPXR at the concentration of 10.0 μM and 10.0 nM, respectively, whereas thaigranatins J (5), M (8), and T (15) showed inhibitory activities against hCES2 with IC50 values of 6.63, 11.35, and 5.05 μM, respectively. The 8α,30α-epoxy moiety of mexicanolide and the Δ8,14 double bond of phragmalin are pivotal for agonistic effects of these limonoids on hPXR, whereas the 6-OAc group of mexicanolide is crucial for its inhibitory activity against hCES2. Additionally, the flexible C-17–side-chain with appropriate hydroxy groups is considered to be important for the inhibitory activity of apotirucallane against hCES2.