Planta Med. 2002 Aug; 68(8): 730-3.

Bioactive constituents of the seeds of Brucea javanica.

Su BN, Chang LC, Park EJ, Cuendet M, Santarsiero BD, Mesecar AD, Mehta RG, Fong HH, Pezzuto JM, Kinghorn AD.

Program for Collaborative Research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences and Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.

A new quassinoid, yadanziolide S (1), was isolated from the seeds of the traditional Chinese medicinal herb, Brucea javanica, along with ten known compounds, flazin, bruceine D, yadanziolide B, bruceoside A, yadanziolide S, yadanzigan, glycerol 1,3-bisoleate, azelaic acid, (+/-)-8-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid, and vanillin. Compound 1 is the first quassinoid to have been isolated from B. javanica without a methyleneoxy bridge between C-8 and C-13, and its structure was determined using spectroscopic methods, and confirmed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. All isolates were evaluated for their potential to induce human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cell differentiation, and to inhibit cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), -2 (COX-2), and 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced lesions in a mouse mammary organ culture model.