Two new vinblastine-type N-oxide alkaloids from Catharanthus roseus.

Two new vinblastine-type N-oxide alkaloids, 17-desacetoxyvinblastine N'b-oxide (1) and 20'-deoxyvinblastine N'b-oxide (2), were isolated from the leaves of Catharanthus roseus. The structures of 1 and 2 were established by the analysis of their nuclear magnetic resonance and HR-ESI-MS spectroscopic data. All alkaloids were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) cell line, human colorectal carcinoma (Lovo) cell line and human breast carcinoma (MCF-7) cell line by the MTT method in vitro, respectively. The results showed that cytotoxic activities of alkaloids 1 and 2 exhibited moderate inhibitory activity on the proliferation of three cancer cells.