Jatrophane diterpenoid esters from Euphorbia sororia serving as multidrug resistance reversal agents.

Six (1-6) new jatrophane diterpenoid esters together with four known compounds (7-10) were isolated from the acetone extract of fructus Euphorbia sororia. Their structures were elucidated by the spectral technology, including the 2D NMR experiments (HMQC, HMBC and NOESY). The absolute configuration of compound 1 and compound 7 were first confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis. Compounds 1-7 were assayed for their antiproliferative activity in human cancer cell lines: human mammary adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) and human lung adenocarcinoma (A549). All the compounds were inactive for the cell lines. The multidrug-resistance reversal activity was also tested on KBv200 cells and compound 2 displayed strong multidrug resistance reversal activity, outperforming verapamil at 10 μM.