Steroidal constituents from the leaves of Hosta longipes and their inhibitory effects on nitric oxide production.

Hosta longipes (FR. et SAV.) MATSUMURA (Liliaceae) is an edible vegetable in Korea. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the potential of H. longipes as a functional food for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. In this respect, the study resulted in the identification of three new steroidal compounds, longipenane (1), longipenane 26-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (2) and neogitogenin 3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-[β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)]-β-d-galactopyranoside (3), along with two known steroidal saponins (4 and 5). The identification and structural elucidation of these compounds were based on 1D and 2D NMR measurements, high-resolution FAB mass spectroscopy (HR-FAB-MS), and chemical methods. A proinflammatory mediator, nitric oxide (NO), in murine microglial BV-2 cells was used to assess the anti-neuroinflammatory effect of the isolated compounds from H. longipes. Among them, compounds 4 and 5 showed strong inhibitory effects on NO production without high cell toxicity in lipopolysaccharide-activated BV-2 cells (IC50=17.66 and 13.16μM, respectively).