Cucurbitane triterpenes from Hemsleya chinensis tubers and their anti-inflammatory activities

Six new cucurbitane-type triterpenes, hemchinins A-F (1–6), together with thirteen known ones (7–19) were isolated from ethyl acetate extraction of Hemsleya chinensis tubers. Compounds 1–2 were a group of cucurbitane triterpenes possessing an infrequent pentacyclic framework. Their structures were established by comprehensive UV, IR, HRMS, 1D/2D NMR, and ECD analyses. Bioassay results showed that most isolated compounds exhibited anti-inflammatory actions, in which compounds 13 and 15 exhibited stronger activities at 6.25 μM, with NO inhibition rates of 49.00 ± 0.05% and 48.40 ± 0.10%, respectively.