A novel diterpene skeleton: identification of a highly aromatic, cytotoxic and antioxidant 5-methyl-10-demethyl-abietane-type diterpene from Premna serratifolia.

Premna serratifolia Linn. (syn: . P. corymbosa (Burm. f.) Merr., P. integrifolia L. and P. obtusifolia R. Br.) is a member of the Verbenaceae family that is extensively used in the Ayurvedic system of medicine in India. As part of our continuous pharmacological and phytochemical studies on medicinal plants, we have screened the methanolic extracts of leaves, root bark (RB) and root wood of P. serratifolia for cytotoxic activity against two cancer cell lines: SHSY-5Y neuroblastoma and B16 melanoma cells. The RB extract that showed promising activity was fractionated using solvents of increasing polarity followed by a combination of Sephadex LH-20 column and Combiflash chromatography as well as HPLC to afford the active principle. Comprehensive spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR (COSY, HMQC, HMBC, NOESY) and MS analysis revealed the identity of the isolated compound as 11,12,16-trihydroxy-2-oxo-5-methyl-10-demethyl-abieta-1[10],6,8,11,13-pentene that appears to be a novel compound based on a new diterpene skeleton. The cytotoxic activity of the isolated compound was 21 and 23 times higher than the crude extract against the SHSY-5Y and B16 cells, respectively. The novel compound also possesses in vitro antioxidant effects as evidenced by the DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical scavenging effect where an IC50 value of 20.4 ± 1.3 μM was obtained. In comparison, the positive control, caffeic acid, showed an IC50 value of 14.4 ± 1.6 μM.