Chemical constituents from the fibrous root of Ophiopogon japonicus, and their effect on tube formation in human myocardial microvascular endothelial cells.

In an effort to identify novel active constituents on the cardiovascular system, a systematic study on macroporous resin adsorption of extracts from the fibrous root of Ophiopogon japonicus was performed in a human myocardial microvascular endothelial cell line (HMMEC) based assay. One novel spirostan, named ophiogenin (1), together with six known spirostans (4-8, 10), and one new sesquiterpene glycoside, named ophioside A (2), together with one known monoterpene glycoside (9) were isolated from the active fractions, and the aglycone of compound 2 that was a new natural compound was obtained from the acid hydrolysis of 2, named ophiopogonol (3). Their structures were determined by spectral and chemical analyses. Furthermore, their effect on HMMEC tube formation was also determined. Our results indicated that compounds 4 and 8 could significantly improve the tube formation and 2 showed moderate increasing effect, while compound 5 exhibited potent inhibitory effect.