Chemical constituents from Artemisia annua with potential anti-inflammatory activities

Phytochemical analysis of Artemisia annua aerial parts revealed three novel lignan glycosides (arteannuoside A-B, annusesquilignanoside) and 18 known compounds (4-21), including spanning megastigmanes (4-13), coumarin (14), nitrogen-containing compound (15), phenylethanol glycoside (16), and phenolic compounds (17-21). Compounds (4, 6, 10, 12, 15-18) were first isolated from this species. Structural characterization employed NMR spectroscopy and literature comparison. The new compounds demonstrated concentration-dependent IL-6 inhibition in LPS-activated macrophages. At 100 μM, compounds 1 (68.75%), 2 (71.89%) and 3 (61.34%) showed strong activity, while at 50 μM yielded 33.45%, 39.37%, and 45.36% inhibition respectively.