Hosta longipes (FR. et SAV.) MATSUMURA (Liliaceae) is a perennial grass that is widely distributed
throughout Korea. This plant has been used as a Korean traditional medicine for the
treatment of ulcer, tuberculosis, melena and leukorrhea. In the previous phytochemical
investigations, steroidal saponins were mainly isolated and some of them showed cytotoxic
activity towards HeLa cells.
In the course of our continuing search for biologically active compounds from Korean
medicinal sources, we investigated the MeOH extract of the aerial parts of H. longipes. The column chromatographic separation of the MeOH extract resulted in the isolation
of three new steroidal compounds, longipenane (1), longipenane 26-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2) and neogitogenin 3-O-{O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)]-β-D-galactopyranoside} (3), along with two known steroidal saponins. The structures of the compounds were determined
on the basis of spectroscopic analyses, including extensive 2D NMR data. The stereochemistry
of the compounds was clarified by J values and a modified Mosher's method. The isolated compounds are in progress for
the test of inhibitory effects against the nitric oxide (NO) production in
lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated BV-2 cells.
