Two new phomaligols, deketo-phomaligol A (1) and phomaligol E (2), together with six known compounds (3-8) were isolated from the culture broth of the marine-derived fungus Aspergillus flocculosus. Compound 1 was first isolated as a phomaligol derivative possessing a five-membered ring. The structures and absolute configurations of the new phomaligols were determined by detailed analyses of mass spectrometry (MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data, optical rotation values and electronic circular dichroism (ECD). In addition, the absolute configurations of the known compounds 3 and 4 were confirmed by chemical oxidation and comparison of optical rotation values. Isolated compounds at a concentration of 100 μM were screened for inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced BV-2 microglial cells. Among the compounds, 4 showed moderate anti-neuroinflammatory effects with an IC50 value of 56.6 μM by suppressing the production of pro-inflammatory mediators in activated microglial cells without cytotoxicity.
Keywords: Aspergillus flocculosus; BV-2 microglia; anti-neuroinflammatory; marine fungus; phomaligol.