Planta Med 2015; 81 - PM_61
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1565438

Sesquiterpenes from the rhizome of Cyperus rotundus with cytotoxicity on human cancer cells in vitro

B Ryu 1, HM Kim 2, JS Lee 1, YJ Cho 1, MS Oh 1, JH Choi 1, DS Jang 1
  • 1Department of Life and Nanopharmaceutical Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of (South)
  • 2Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea, Republic of (South)

The rhizome of Cyperus rotundus L. (Cyperaceae) have been used in traditional Chinese medicine. In this study, two new sesquiterpenes, cyperusol A3 (1) and 3-hydroxycyperenoic acid (2), along with twelve known compounds, britanlin E (3), 1β,4β-dihydroxyeudesma-11-ene (4), and 10β-eudesm-4-en-3-one-11,12-diol (5), pinellic acid (6), fulgidic acid (7), scirpusin A (8), scirpusin B (9), 6'-acetyl-3,6-diferuloylsucrose (10), 4',6'-diacetyl-3,6-diferuloylsucrose (11), p-coumaric acid (12), ferulic acid (13) and luteolin (14) were isolated from an EtOAc-soluble fraction of the rhizome of Cyperus rotundus L. The structures of compounds 1 and 2 were elucidated by physical and spectroscopic data (1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 2D NMR, and MS) interpretation. All the isolates 1-14 were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against human ovarian cancer cells (A2780) and endometrial adenocarcinoma cells (Ishikawa) using MTT assays, with the most active compound being 10β-eudesm-4-en-3-one-11,12-diol (5).