| Strychnos nux-vomica L. (Loganiaceae), widely used in Chinese folk medicine, is grown extensively in southern Asian countries. The dried seeds of this plant have been claimed to improve blood circulation and relieve rheumatic pain. Historically, this plant has been widely used in treating diseases, such as tumor and rheumatic arthritis. Phytochemical analysis has identified alkaloids as the major components of this species. A few related studies also show that these alkaloids are, to a great extent, responsible for the pharmacological properties of Strychnos nux-vomica, such as cytoprotective and antitussive activities. However, the toxic properties of these alkaloids have limited the wider use and the investigation of this plant as a medicine.In order to reveal the chemical foundation for pharmacological activity of Strychnos nux-vomica L.,22 compounds were isolated from the antitumor active fraction of Strychnos nux-vomica L. by means of silica gel column chromatography, ODS column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20, PHPLC. On the basis of physico-chemical characters and spectroscopic analysis, their structures were identified as:brucine (1), strychnine (2), brucine-N-oxide (3), strychnine-N-oxide (4), strychnine methiodide (5), pseudobrucine (6), pseudostrychnine (7), icajine (8), vomicine (9), novacine (10), ferulic acid (11), caffeic acid ethyl ester (12), cinnamic acid (13), protocatechuic acid (14), salicylic acid (15), gallic acid (16), vanillic acid (17), ursolic acid (18),β-simiarenol (19),β-sitosterol (20), daucosterol (21). Among them, compounds 11-17 were obtained from this genus for the first time.The cytotoxicity in vitro of some isolated compounds towards human lung cancer cell lines was tested. Compounds 4,5,6,8 and 18 showed inhibitory activity towards human lung cell line A549.
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