• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.196-201
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• 2008

Five neolignans (1 - 4, 8), two sesquiterpene-lignans (5 - 6), and two phenylpropanoids (7, 9) were isolated from the stem bark of Magnolia obovata Thunberg (Magnoliaceae) by repeated column chromatography. The structures of isolated compounds were identified as 4-methoxyhonokiol (1), obovatol (2), magnolol (3), honokiol (4), eudeshonokiol B (5), eudesobovatol B (6), coumaric acid (7), magnaldehyde B (8), and ${\rho}-coumaric$ acid (9) on the basis of spectroscopic analysis including 2D-NMR and MS data. Compounds 1 - 9 were evaluated for their anti-complement activities against the classical pathway of the complement system. Of them, compound 8 showed significant anti-complement activity on the classical pathway with $IC_{50}$ value of 102.7 ${\mu}M$, whereas compounds 1 - 7 and 9 were inactive. This result indicated that an aldehyde group in the neolignan is important for the anti-complement activity against the classical pathway.

• Mass Spectrometry Letters
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.34-37
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• 2013

Honokiol and magnolol, the major bioactive neolignans of magnolia officinalis, are the most important constituents of the crude drug prescriptions that are used in the therapy of neuroses and various nervous disorders. There have been limited reports on the effects of neolignoid compounds on human cytochrome P450 activity. Therefore, the inhibitory effects of honokiol and magnolol on seven human cytochrome P450 s were evaluated in human liver microsomes. Honokiol and magnolol showed the most potent inhibition of CYP1A2-mediated phenacetin O-deethylase activity ($IC_{50}$ values of 3.5 and 5.4 mM, respectively) among the seven P450s tested. These in vitro data indicate that neolignan compounds can inhibit the activity of CYP1A2 and suggest that these compounds should be examined for potential pharmacokinetic drug interactions in vivo.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.89-91
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• 2005

Effect of the neolignans, honokiol (1) and magnolol (2), isolated from Magnoliae Cortex on mushroom tyrosinase activity was investigated in vitro using L-tyrosine as a substrate. Honokiol (1) inhibited tyrosinase activity significantly in a concentration-dependent manner, on the other hand, magnolol (2) did not show tyrosinase inhibitory effect. Honokiol exhibited tyrosinase inhibitory effect with $IC_{50}$ value of $67.9\;{\mu}M$, and proved to act as a non-competitive inhibitor by the analysis of Lineweaver-Burk plot.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.44 no.12
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• pp.1912-1917
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• 2015

Pancreatic lipase is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of diet-induced obesity in humans. As part of our continuing search for novel bioactive compounds, the convenient enzymatic transformation of caffeic acid into neolignans as well as related oxidized-products enhanced pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity. Enzymatic transformation of caffeic acid (1) using polyphenol oxidase originating from Korean pear yielded four oxidized metabolites, which were identified by different spectroscopic techniques ($^1H$,$^{13}C$ NMR, DEP/T, $^1H-^1H$ COSY, HMBC, HMQC, and NOESY). The anti-obesity efficacy of caffeic acid reactant was tested by in vitro porcine pancreatic lipase assay. All tested samples showed dose-dependent pancreatic lipase inhibitory activities. Four oxidative products including phellinsin A (2), caffeicinic acid (3), isocaffeicinic acid (4), and 7,8-erythro-caffeicin (5) were isolated and identified. The major metabolites (2~5) were evaluated for their pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity, and oxidized-products (2~3) improved potency against pancreatic lipase when compared to original caffeic acid. This result suggested that the neolignans isolated from oxidative transformation of caffeic acid might be beneficial in the treatment of obesity and relevant diseases, and the convenient enzymatic transformation by polyphenol oxidase may be a valuable method for structural modification and enhancement of activity.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.51-55
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• 2008

Three sesquiterpene-lignans, eudeshonokiol B (1), eudesobovatol B (2), and clovanemagnolol (3), were isolated from the stem bark of Magnolia obovata, together with magnolol (4), honokiol (5), and obovatol (6) on the basis of spectroscopic and physicochemical analyses including 2D NMR and Mass. Compounds 1 - 3 were belongs to a unique class of natural products made up of a sesquiterpene and biphenyl-type neolignan via an ether bond. All the isolated compounds were tested in vitro for their cytotoxic activity against the HeLa, A549, and HCTll6 cancer cell lines. Compounds 1 - 6 showed the cytotoxic activity against tested cancer cell lines, with $IC_{50}$ values ranging from 7.1 to 14.4 ${\mu}g/mL$.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3429-3436
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• 2013

Cervical cancer is a major health problem worldwide and is the most frequent cause of cancer in women in India. Early detection and affordable drugs with clinical efficacy have to go hand-in-hand in order to comprehensibly address this serious health challenge. Plant-based drugs with potent anticancer effects should add to the efforts to find a cheap drug with limited clinical side effects. Keeping this very purpose in mind, an attempt has been made in this review to explore the potential of plant extracts or constituents known to exhibit antitumorigenic activity or exert cytotoxic effect in human cervical carcinoma cells. Alkaloids such as those isolated from C. vincetoxicum and T. Tanakae, naucleaorals A and B, isolated from the roots of N. orientalis, (6aR)-normecambroline, isolated from the bark of N. dealbata appear promising in different human cervical carcinoma cells with the $IC_{50}$ of 4.0-8 ${\mu}g/mL$. However, other compounds such as rhinacanthone and neolignans isolated from different plants are not far behind and kill cervical cancer cells at a very low concentrations. Among plant extracts or its constituents that enhance the effect of known anticancer drugs, noni, derived from the plant M. citrifolia perhaps is the best candidate. The cytotoxic potency and apoptotic index of cisplatin was found to significantly enhanced in combination with noni in different human cervical carcinoma cells and it therefore holds significance as promising herbal-based anticancer agent. However, efficacy needs to be further investigated in various cervical cell lines and more importantly, in in vivo cervical cancer models for possible use as an alternative and safe anticancer drug.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.873-879
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• 2014

The constituents from the needles of the pine tree, Pinus densiflora, were purified and investigated for antithrombotic activity. The needles were initially extracted three times with 70% ethanol, and the extract was sequentially fractionated with chloroform and n-butanol. The aqueous layer formed after n-butanol fractionation was subjected to purification by medium pressure and high pressure liquid chromatography. The two neolignans, 2, 3-dihydro-7-hydroxyl-3-hydroxymethyl-2-(4'-hydroxyl -3-methoxyphenyl)-5-benzofuranpropanol-3-O-${\alpha}$-rhamnopyranoside (a neolignan glycoside) and 2, 3-dihyro-3-hydroxymethyl-7-methoxy-2-(4'-hydroxyphenyl-3'-methoxy)-5-benxofuran propanol 4'-O-${\alpha}$-rhamnopyranoside (icariside $E_4$) were identified by $^1H$ and $^{13}C$ NMR spectra. The effect of the purified compounds, the neolignan glycoside and icariside $E_4$ on thrombin inhibition were investigated by measuring thrombin clotting time in plasma. As a result, the clotting of the neolignan glycoside was delayed four times compared to that of icariside $E_4$. In addition, an analysis of the inhibition effect by changing the concentration showed that the clotting time was delayed in accordance with an increase in the concentration of the neolignan glycoside. Furthermore, we examined the interaction of thrombin and fibrinogen to clarify the action mechanism. As a result, the delay of clotting time in the response of thrombin and pure fibrinogen may indicate that neolignan glycosides inhibit the thrombin action in a direct manner, leading to the suppression of fibrin generation.