Anticomplement activity of cycloartane glycosides from the rhizome of Cimicifuga foetida

Abstract A tetranor‐cycloartane glycoside and two 9,19‐cycloartane glycosides were isolated from the EtOAc‐soluble fraction of the rhizome of Cimicifuga foetida . The structures of the compounds were determined to be cimilactone A (1), 25‐ O ‐acetylcimigenol 3‐ O ‐ β ‐ d ‐xylopyranoside (2) and cimigenol 3‐ O ‐ α ‐ l ‐arabinopyranoside (3), respectively, using spectroscopic analysis. The three compounds were examined for their anticomplement activity against the classical pathway of the complement system. Compound 1 showed significant anticomplement activity with an IC 50 value of 28.6 µ m , whereas compounds 2 and 3 were inactive. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.