Three new sesquiterpenoid alkaloids, cangorin K (1), dimacroregelines C (2) and D (3), as well as two known sesquiterpenoids (4-5), were isolated from the roots of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. The structures of new compounds were characterised by extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic analyses, as well as HRESIMS data, and the known compounds were established by 1 D NMR spectra referring to the literatures. Cytotoxicity evaluation of these compounds against two human tumour lines (SMMC7721, LN229) was investigated by CCK-8 assay and displayed that compounds 1-4 showed potent cytotoxicity against SMMC7721 cell with IC50 value in the range of 0.26-9.67 μΜ and compounds 1-5 showed potent cytotoxicity against LN-229 cell with IC50 values in the range of 0.50-7.38 μΜ.
Keywords: Tripterygium wilfordii; biological activity; cytotoxicity; sesquiterpenoid alkaloids; sesquiterpenoids.