Novel chemical constituents with anti-inflammatory activity from the leaves of Sesbania aculeata.

From the hexane and ethyl acetate extracts of the leaves of Sesbania aculeata, three novel chemical compounds were isolated and fully characterized as compound 1, (ceramide type); compound 2, (cerebroside type) and compound 3 as a triterpene acid 3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranoside along with nine known compounds (Tricontanol, Lauric acid, Palmitic acid, Heptadecanoyl-1-tridecanoic acid, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, poriferasterol glucoside, ononitol and pinitol). The anti-inflammatory potential of all three compounds were evaluated using in vitro target based anti-inflammatory activity in LPS-stimulated macrophages. TNF-α is one of the mediators of various chronic inflammatory disorders and treatment of hexane leaf extract (HL), Ethyl acetate leaf extract (EAL) and compounds 1, 2 and 3 at a dose of 10 μg/mL showed significant (P<0.001) inhibition of TNF-α, a pro-inflammatory cytokine. IL-6 was significantly (P<0.05) inhibited by compound 1 and HL at a dose of 10 μg/mL as compared with vehicle treatment. In-vitro cell cytotoxicity study using MTT assay revealed that these compounds were non toxic to the normal cells.