Anti-proliferative and anti-neuroinflammatory eudesmanolides from Wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata (L.) Pruski).

Wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata, Syn. Wedelia trilobata), a notoriously invasive agricultural weed, can inhibit the growth and development of crops in the field. Eight new eudesmanolides (1-8), along with twelve known congeners (9-20), were isolated and identified from the flowers of Wedelia. Their chemical structures were elucidated through various spectroscopic techniques. The isolates were tested for anti-proliferative activities against HeLa, HepG₂, and SGC-7901 tumor cell lines. Most eudesmanolides exhibited significant anti-proliferative activities with good selectivity. Meanwhile, the cells morphology and clonogenic survival assays were observed for compounds 1-3. Moreover, compound 6 displayed obvious anti-neuroinflammatory effect by inhibition of NO production in LPS-induced microglia BV-2 cells with the IC₅₀ value of 11.77 ± 0.83 μM. Hence, this study demonstrated that the eudesmanolides from Wedelia possessed significant antitumor and anti-inflammatory activity, which provided some guides for the further development and a new thinking for its control.