Two previously undescribed triterpenoids (1-2), along with thirteen known compounds (3-15) were isolated from a CHCl3-soluble extract of the leaves of Cyclocarya paliurus. Their structures were established on the basis of chemical and spectroscopic approaches. These compounds were assessed for their therapeutic effects on diabetic nephropathy (DN)-evoked fibrosis through High-Glucose and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) challenged HK-2 cells. Among them, compounds 3, 5 and 8 could remarkedly decrease the level of fibronectin to relieve DN with 27.66 ± 2.77%, 6.09 ± 0.57% and 17.74 ± 5.83% inhibition rate at 10 μM, 10 μM and 1 μM, respectively.
Keywords: Cyclocarya paliurus; HK-2 cells; fibronectin; fibrosis; flavonoids; triterpenoids.