Anti-inflammatory Flavanones and Flavones from Tephrosia linearis .

Phytochemical analysis of a methanol-dichloromethane (1:1) extract of the aerial parts of Tephrosialinearis led to the isolation of 18 compounds. Seven of these, namely, lineaflavones A-D ( 1 - 4 ), 6-methoxygeraldone ( 5 ), 8″-acetylobovatin ( 6 ), and 5-hydroxy-7-methoxysaniculamin A ( 7 ) are new compounds. The compounds were characterized based on their NMR and HRMS ⁿ data. The anti-inflammatory effects of the crude extract and isolated compounds were evaluated by measuring the levels of interleukins (IL-1β, IL-2, and IL-6), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The crude extract inhibited the release of all cytokines except IL-1β, which slightly increased in comparison to the LPS control. All the tested compounds suppressed the production of IL-2, GM-CSF, and TNF-α. Whereas compounds 1 , 2 , 4 - 8 , 10 - 15 , 17 , and 18 decreased production of IL-6, compounds 1 , 2 , 4 , 7 , 10 , 13 - 15 , and 17 inhibited the release of IL-1β. It is worth noting that most of the compounds tested showed a superior reduction in cytokines release compared to the reference drug ibuprofen.