Planta Med 2015; 81 - PM_111
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1565488

Isolation, structures, and structure-anti-inflammatory activity relationships of cembranoids from two cultured soft corals Sinularia sandensis and Sinularia flexibilis

TC Tsai 1, HY Chen 2, 3, JH Su 2, 3
  • 1Department of Marine Biotechnology and Resources, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
  • 2National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium, Pingtung, Taiwan
  • 3Graduate Institute of Marine Biology, National Dong Hwa University, Pingtung, Taiwan

Five new cembranoids, sandenlides A (1) and B (2), 3-epi-diepoxycembrene A (6), and flexibinoids A (8) and B (9), along with eleven known related metabolites 3-5, 7 and 10-16 have been isolated from the two cultured soft corals Sinularia sandensis and Sinularia flexibilis. The structures were elucidated by means of IR, MS, and NMR techniques, and the absolute configurations of 1, 4, 9 and 15 were further confirmed in conjunction with a single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. In the in vitro anti-inflammatory effects test, compounds 9-14 were found to significantly inhibit the accumulation of the pro-inflammatory iNOS and COX-2 proteins of the LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Structure-activity relationships analysis indicated that cembrane-type with one seven-membered lactone moiety at C-1 are potential anti-inflammatory agents. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first farming system for Sinularia sandensis in the world.