Four new sorbicillinoids, named trichodermolide E (1), trichosorbicillin J (2), bisorbicillinolide B (3), and demethylsorbiquinol (5), together with eight known compounds (4, 6-12), were isolated from the cultures of the mangrove-derived fungus Trichoderma reesei BGRg-3. The structures of the new compounds were determined by analyzing their detailed spectroscopic data, while the absolute configurations were further determined through electronic circular dichroism calculations. Snatzke's method was additionally used to determine the absolute configurations of the diol moiety in 1. In a bioassay, compounds 7 and 10 performed greater inhibitory activities on interleukin-6 and interleukin-1β than the positive control (dexamethasone) at the concentration of 25 μM. Meanwhile, compounds 5 and 6 showed potent effects with stronger inhibition than dexamethasone on IL-1β at the same concentration.
Keywords: IL-1β; IL-6; Trichoderma reesei; anti-inflammatory activities; mangrove-derived fungus; sorbicillinoids.