Cytotoxic and antiplasmodial xanthones from Pentadesma butyracea.

Four new xanthones, butyraxanthones A−D (1−4), were isolated from the stem bark of Pentadesma butyracea, together with six known xanthones (5−10) and a triterpenoid (lupeol). The structures of 1−4 were established by spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1−10 were tested in vitro for antiplasmodial activity against a Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine-resistant strain and for cytotoxicity against a human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Nearly all of these xanthones exhibited good antiplasmodial activity, and some of them also demonstrated potent cytotoxicity.