Two new 18, 19-seco Triterpenoids from Ilex asprella (Hook. et Arn.) Champ. ex Benth

Abstract Two novel 18,19-seco-ursane triterpenoid saponins, ilexasprellanosides J –K (1–2, resp.), 3- O - α - l -Rhamnopyranosyl-(1 → 2)- β - d - xylopyrannosyl-19- O - β - d -glucopyranosyl-16- β -hydroxyl-18,19-seco-13(18)-urs-ene-21, 28-lactone ( 1 ), 3- O - β - d -Xylopyrannosyl-19- O - α - l -rhamnopyran osyl-(1 → 2)- α - l -arabinopyranoside-16, 21-epoxy-18, 19-seco-13(18)-urs-ene-28-oic acid ( 2 ), five known compounds ( 3–7 ) were isolated from the leaves of Ilex asprella (Hook. et Arn.) Champ. ex Benth. (Gangmeiye). The chemical structures of these compounds were elucidated through UV, IR, ESI-MS, 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR analyses. In MTT and SRB assays, compounds 1 – 4 presented cytotoxic activities against several human cancer cell lines, namely, the HL-60 human acute promyelocytic leukaemia, Bel 7402 liver cancer, BGC-823 gastric cancer and KB human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell lines. Compound 1 exhibited weak cytotoxic activities against the human tumour cell lines HL-60, Bel 7402 and KB with inhibition rates of 27.97%, 21.00% and 25.60%, respectively. Compound 2 exhibited weak cytotoxic activities against the human tumour cell lines HL-60, Bel 7402 and BGC-823 with inhibition rates of 19.34%, 7.50% and 4.26%. Respectively, the compounds exerted no statistically different effects on mast cell degranulation in rats. This result indicates that the compounds do not affect mast cell degranulation