Nelumal A, the active principle of Ligularia nelumbifolia, is a novel aromatase inhibitor.

Nelumal A, the active principle of Ligularia nelumbifolia was preliminarily tested as an aromatase inhibitors in HEK293 cells transfected with aromatase cDNA and using anastrazole as the reference drug. This screening revealed that it showed an appreciable level of inhibition. Subsequent experiments aimed to evaluate the aromatase activity and expression in KGN cells confirmed that the title natural product, after an incubation of 48 h, compared favourably with anastrazole (1 microM) in the concentration range 10-30 microM. Moreover, nelumal A (30 microM) abolished the aromatase mRNA expression in the same cell line.