A phytochemical study of the 95% ethanolic extract of the whole plant of Lancea tibetica Hook. f. et Thoms. led to the isolation of a new trehalose ester, 6-O-undecanoyl-α,β-trehalose (1), along with 23 known compounds (2-24), of which compounds 2-17 were isolated from this plant for the first time. The structures of these compounds were established on the basis of spectroscopic methods. Compound 1 was evaluated for their in vitro anti-proliferative activities against MCF-7, NCI-H460 and Hep-G2 tumour cell lines. Compound 1 exhibited potent inhibitory activity against NCI-H460 cell growth, in contrast to moderate cytotoxic activity against MCF-7 and Hep-G2 cells.
Keywords: Lancea tibetica; anti-tumour activity; flavone; trehalose ester; triterpenoid.