Objective: To investigate the chemical constituents of Desmodium blandum and their cytotoxic activity against the growth of several tumor cells.
Method: Various chromatographic techniques including silica gel, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography were employed for the isolation and purification of the constituents. The structures of compounds were elucidated by spectral analyses (IR, UV, NMR, MS). Their cytotoxic activity was then studied.
Result: Eight compounds were isolated from the stems of D. blandum and identified as N, N-dimethyltryptamine (1), 5-methoxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine (2), citrusinol (3), yukovanol (4), (Z)-1-(4-hydroxy-2, 3-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propene (5), (Z)-1-(3-hydroxy-2, 4-dimethoxy-phenyl)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl) propene (6), methylprotocatechuate (7), katuranin (8).
Conclusion: Among these compounds, compound 6 was isolated from D. blandum for the first time. In the MTT test, compounds 2 and 6 exhibit cytotoxic activities against the KB cell, and compounds 3 and 6 exhibit the same activities against the HepG2 cell.