The constituents of the stems of cissus assamica and their bioactivities

Fifty-five compounds were isolated from the fresh stems of Cissus assamica, including 14 benzenoids, 11 triterpenes, nine steroids, five tocopherols, five chlorophylls, four flavonoids, two benzoquinones, two tannins, and three other compounds. Their structures were constructed by 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectral data, and were also identified by a comparison of their spectral data with those reported in the literature. Among these isolates, 1,2-bis-(5-tocopheryl) ethane (51) was reported for the first time from natural sources. Some purified compounds were examined for their anti-inflammatory and anticancer bioactivities. The results indicated that betulinic acid (16) exhibited strong inhibition of superoxide anion generation with IC50 value of 0.2 ± 0.1 μM, while betulinic acid (16) and pheophytin-a (47) inhibited elastase release with IC50 value of 2.7 ± 0.3 and 5.3 ± 1.0 μM, respectively. In addition, betulinic acid (16) and epiglut-5(6)-en-ol (18) exhibited potential cytotoxicity to non-small-cell lung carcinoma (NCI-H226) and colon cancer (HCT-116) cell lines with IC50 values in the range of 1.6 to 9.1 μM.