Chemical constituents from the roots of Tripterygium wilfordii and their cytotoxic activity

In our ongoing search for bioactive constituents, a new sesquiterpene polyol ester, named triptersinine U (1), together with five known triterpenes (2–6) and seven sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloids (7–13), were isolated from the roots of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. Their chemical structures were elucidated using extensive spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR, and HRESIMS, as well as comparison with previously reported data. Cytotoxic activities of all compounds 1–13 were evaluated against six human tumor cell lines (HepG2, Hep3B, Bcap37, U251, MCF-7 and A549) using the MTT in vitro assay. The results showed that triterpenes exhibited moderate cytotoxic activities toward the tested cell lines.