Two new xanthones smilone A (1), smilone B (2), and a new lignin smilgnin A (3) were isolated from the rhizomes of Smilax china L., together with three known xanthones (4-6), four lignins (7-10), two flavones (11, 12), two stilbenoids (13, 14), and ten organic phenoloids (15-24). Of them, compounds 4-6 were isolated from the genus Smilax for the first time. The structures of 1-24 were elucidated by the extensive analysis of spectral data and compared with the literature. All compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects against LPS-induced NO production in RAW264.7 macrophages. Among them, compound 24 exhibited significant inhibitory activity against NO production (IC50 = 1.26 µM), while compounds 3, 6, and 7 showed weak activities at the concentration of 50 μM.[Formula: see text].
Keywords: NO production inhibitory activity; Smilax china L.; lignin; phenoloid; xyxanthone.