Hypolipidemic, anti-inflammatory, and antineoplastic activity and cytotoxicity of flavonolignans isolated from Hydnocarpus wightiana seeds.

Flavonolignans isolated from Hydnocarpus wightiana seeds, namely hydnowightin, hydnocarpin, and neohydnocarpin, demonstrated potent hypolipidemic activity in mice, lowering both serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels at 8 mg/kg/day ip. Hydnowightin demonstrated the best lipid-lowering effect of the three compounds. Good anti-inflammatory and antineoplastic activity was demonstrated by hydnocarpin in mice in vivo. The other two derivatives were not as active in these screens. Cytotoxicity against the growth of murine and human tissue cultured cells was shown. All three compounds were moderately active against murine L-1210 leukemia growth. All three compounds demonstrated good activity against the growth of human KB nasopharynx, colon adenocarcinoma, osteosarcoma, and HeLa-S3 uterine growth. Hydnocarpin was the only compound of the three which was active against glioma growth. Hydnocarpin and neohydnocarpin demonstrated significant activity against Tmolt3 leukemia cell growth.