Lignans from the root of Wikstroemia indica and their cytotoxic activity against PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer cells

Abstract Six new compounds, wikstronin A ( 1 ), wikstronin B ( 2 ), wikstresinol ( 3 ), acetylwikstresinol ( 4 ), bis-5′,5′-(+)-matairesinol ( 5 ), bis-5,5′-(+)-matairesinol ( 6 ), together with 20 known compounds ( 7 – 26 ) were isolated from the CH 2 Cl 2 extract of roots of Wikstroemia indica . Structures of compounds 1 – 6 were determined by extensive NMR and CD spectroscopic analysis. In vitro preferential cytotoxicity of all the isolates was evaluated against a PANC-1 human pancreatic cell line. Compounds 8 and 12 displayed mild preferential cytotoxicity in the nutrient-deprived medium (NDM) and without causing toxicity in normal nutrient-rich conditions.