Catecholic Isoquinolines from Portulaca oleracea and Their Anti-inflammatory and β2-Adrenergic Receptor Agonist Activity

J Nat Prod. 2018 Apr 27;81(4):768-777. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.7b00762. Epub 2018 Mar 8.

Abstract

Isoquinoline alkaloids possess a wide range of structural features and pharmaceutical activities and are promising drug candidates. Ten water-soluble catecholic isoquinolines were isolated from the medicinal plant Portulaca oleracea, including three new (1-3) and seven known compounds (4-10), along with the known catecholamines 11 and 12 and four other known compounds (13-16). A method of polyamide column chromatography using EtOAc-MeOH as the mobile phase was developed for the isolation of catecholic isoquinolines. Alkaloids 1-12 exhibited anti-inflammatory activities (EC50 = 18.0-497.7 μM) through inhibition of NO production in lipopolysaccharide-induced murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. Among these compounds, 11, 2, 5, 4, and 8 were more potent than was the positive control, 3,4-dihydroxybenzohydroxamic acid (EC50 = 82.4 μM), with EC50 values of 18.0, 18.1, 35.4, 36.3, and 58.7 μM, respectively. Additionally, at 100 μM, compounds 1-12 showed different degrees of β2-adrenergic receptor (β2-AR) agonist activity in the CHO-K1/GA15 cell line which stably expressed β2-AR as detected by a calcium assay. The EC50 values of 2 and 10 were 5.1 μM and 87.9 nM, respectively.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adrenergic Agonists / chemistry
  • Adrenergic Agonists / pharmacology*
  • Adrenergic beta-2 Receptor Agonists / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents / pharmacology*
  • CHO Cells
  • Cell Line
  • Cricetulus
  • Isoquinolines / chemistry
  • Isoquinolines / pharmacology*
  • Macrophages / drug effects
  • Macrophages / metabolism
  • Mice
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology
  • Plants, Medicinal / chemistry
  • Portulaca / chemistry*
  • RAW 264.7 Cells

Substances

  • Adrenergic Agonists
  • Adrenergic beta-2 Receptor Agonists
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents
  • Isoquinolines
  • Plant Extracts