Identification of compounds with cytotoxic activity from Millettia dorwardi Coll. Et. Hemsl

Abstract Two new lignan derivatives and nine known compounds were isolated from the EtOAc and n -BuOH extracts of Millettia dorwardi Coll. Et. Hemsl. The structures of the compounds were determined by 1D and 2D NMR, CD and HRMS. Then, cytotoxic effects of these compounds were evaluated against five cancer cell lines (HepG2, HCT116, MCF7, Raji and KG-1). Results showed the isolated compounds have no obvious cytotoxic activity, but millepurpan ( 5 ) showed moderate growth inhibitory activity against Raij and KG-1 cells, with IC 50 values of 36.13 and 30.11 μM, respectively. Further activity evaluation revealed that millepurpan ( 5 ) could induce G1 arrest and apoptosis in KG-1 cells. The lignan skeleton was isolated from Millettia genus for the first time and all compounds were firstly reported from Millettia dorwardi Coll. Et.