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Six new compounds, (7 R ,8 S ,8' R )-balanophorone ( 1 ), (7' S ,8' R ,8 R )-yunnanensin A ( 2 ), (3 S )-thunberginol C ( 3 ), (8 R ,8' R )-maninsigin B ( 4 ), (7 S ,8 R )-4,7,8-dihydroxy-9,9-dimethyl-chroman ( 5 ), and 4-hydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)butan-1-one ( 6 ), along with eight known compounds ( 7 - 14 ), were isolated from the herbaceous stems of Ephedra intermedia Schrenket C. A. Meyer. Their structures were elucidated based on their spectroscopic (MS, NMR, IR, and UV) data, and their absolute configurations were determined by comparing their calculated and experimental electronic circular dichroic (ECD) spectra. Moreover, compounds 1 and 3 - 6 were evaluated for their ability to protect human pulmonary epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) from injury induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in vitro. The results showed that compound 6 exhibited a significant protective effect against LPS-induced injury in BEAS-2B, and compound 5 exhibited a slightly protective effect at the concentration of 10 μM.

A new flavonoid, saffloflavanside (1), a new sesquiterpene, safflomegastigside (2), and a new amide, saffloamide (3), together with twenty-two known compounds (4–25), were isolated from the flowers of Carthamus tinctorius L. Their structures were determined based on interpretation of their spectroscopic data and comparison with those reported in the literature. The protective effects against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated damage on human normal lung epithelial (BEAS-2B) cells of the compounds were evaluated using MTT assay and cellular immunofluorescence assay. The results showed that compounds 2–3, 8–11, and 15–19 exhibited protective effects against LPS-induced damage to BEAS-2B cells. Moreover, compounds 2–3, 8–11, and 15–19 can significantly downregulate the level of nuclear translocation of NF-κB p-p65. In summary, this study revealed chemical constituents with lung protective activity from C. tinctorius, which may be developed as a drug for the treatment of lung injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]