One new indazole alkaloid, indigodole E (1), was isolated from a traditional Chinese medicine Qing Dai prepared from the aerial parts of Strobilanthes cusia. The structure of 1 was elucidated by NMR, MS, UV, and IR spectra as well as optical rotation. Additionally, compound 1 could obviously inhibit not only IL-17A protein production at concentrations from 1.25 to 2.5 μg/mL, but also IL-17 gene expression at concentrations from 5.0 to 10.0 μg/mL without cytotoxicity toward Th17 and Jukat cells, respectively. Overall, indazole analogue 1 could be the anti-IL 17 A contributor of Qing Dai in this investigation.
Keywords: Acanthaceae; IL-17A inhibition; Qing Dai; Strobilanthes cusia; indazole alkaloid; indigodole E.