Novel Antiinflammatory Flavonoids from Podophyllum versipelle Cell Culture11

352 callus cultures - most of them from different plant species - were screened for antiinflammatory activity with the mouse macrophage chemiluminescence assay, an IN VITRO cellular test system. Only two of the secondary metabolite fractions from the cultures examined showed more than 60% inhibition of chemiluminescence (CL) at a concentration of 10 -5 mol/l. The most active culture, PODOPHYLLUM VERSIPELLE, was mass cultivated and three new flavonoids which we named podoverines A, B, and C could be isolated from the cell mass by chromatography on hydrophobic adsorbents. Podoverines A and B showed marked activity in the CL assay with IC 50 values of 4.7 × 10 -6 and 6.4 × 10 -6 mol/l, respectively, and are responsible for the activity of the corresponding callus culture.