Major constituents of Boswellia carteri resin exhibit cyclooxygenase enzyme inhibition and antiproliferative activity.

Aromatic gum from Boswellia carteri (olibanum oleogum) has long been used in Egyptian traditional medicine. Cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) enzyme inhibitory assay guided purification of the extracts of this resin resulted in five bioactive compounds, 3alpha-O-acetyl-8,24-dien-tirucallic acid (1), verticilla-4(20),7,11-triene (2), cembrene A (3), incensole acetate (4), and incensole (5). The pure isolates were investigated for their inhibitory effects on COX-1 and -2 enzymes and human tumor cell lines Hep-G2, MCF-7 and RAW 264.7. Compounds 1-5 inhibited COX-2 enzyme by 39.0, 32.7, 60.0, 46.3, and 49.8%, respectively. Furthermore, compound 2 showed an inhibitory concentration of 50% (IC50) at 9 microg/mL against Hep-G2 tumor cell line. This is the first report of COX-1 and -2 enzyme and tumor cell proliferation inhibitory effects of compounds 1 and 2.