Studies On The Immunosuppressive Components From Tripterygium Wilfordii

Tripterygium wilfordii is one of traditional Chinese medicine and widely used in China.The extracts of T.wilfordii have various activities,inculding anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor,immunosuppressive and anti-HIV activities,etc.Its preparation was used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis,nephritis and other autoimmune diseases in clinical.T.wilfordii was reviewed in its distribution,application,chemical components,pharmacological function,clinical applications,etc.By using repeated column chromatography,including Silica gel,Toyopearl HW-40 and preparative HPLC,22 compounds were isolated from the ethyl-acetate extract of T.wilfordii.Two new compounds,named triptobenzene P(1)and wilforone (2),as well as 12 known terpenes,triptobenzene B(3),wilforol E(4),maytenoic acid (5),triptohairic acid(6),triptobenzene H(7),3-oxo-olean-12-en-29-oic acid(8), olean-12-ene-3β,29-diol(9),3-epikatonic acid(10),3β,29-dihydroxy-D:B-friedoolean-5-en(11), wilforol D(12),hyponine A(13),and cangoronine E-1(14)were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic studies,including ¹H-NMR,¹³C-NMR,¹H-¹H COSY, HSQC,HMBC,NOESY,MS spectra,etc.In a screen for immunosuppressive agents from the extract of T.wilfordii,we examined the inhibitory effect of the isolated compounds on lymphocyte transformation.Compounds 2-4,8,10,and 11 revealed a significant distinction compared to the concanavalin(ConA)control group(p＜0.001,n=6),and showed an inhibitory effect on lymphocyte transformation by comparing with a reference compound(Dexamethasone).