Search for antimycobacterial constituents from a Tibetan medicinal plant, Gentianopsis paludosa.

From the whole plant of Gentianopsis paludosa seven compounds were isolated and identified to be 1,7-dihydroxy-3,8-dimethoxyxanthone (1), 1,7,8-trihydroxy-3-methoxyxanthone (2), 1-hydroxy-3,7,8-trimethoxyxanthone (3), 1,8-dihydroxy-2,6-dimethoxyxanthone (4), oleanolic acid (5), 4',5,7-trihydroxyflavone (6) and luteolin-7-O-glucoside (7). Compounds 1, 2, 3 and 5 showed modest inhibitory effect against the growth of Mycobacterium smegmatis and M. tuberculosis. Copyright 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.