Megastigmane Derivatives from the Cladodes of Opuntia humifusa and Their Nitric Oxide Inhibitory Activities in Macrophages

Opuntia humifusa, known as the eastern prickly pear cactus and locally called "Cheonnyuncho" in Korea, is cultivated widely on Jeju Island, Korea. Phytochemical analysis of the methanolic extract of the cladodes of O. humifusa, for which previous research is relatively limited, was performed under the guidance of LC/MS-based analysis. As a result, one new megastigmane (1) and four new megastigmane glucosides (2–5) were isolated along with 18 known compounds (6–23). The structures of the new compounds were established by 1D and 2D NMR and HRESIMS, and their absolute configurations were established by chemical reactions, quantum chemical electronic circular dichroism calculations, and DP4+ analysis using the gauge-including atomic orbital NMR chemical shift calculations as well as the application of Snatzke's method. The isolated compounds (1–23) were tested for NO production inhibition in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 cells to investigate their anti-inflammatory effects. Compounds 10 and 11 exhibited significant inhibitory effects on LPS-induced NO production in a dose-dependent manner. The potential mechanistic pathway of 10 and 11 was also investigated using Western blotting, indicating that compounds 10 and 11 inhibit NO through iNOS expression.