Study on the anti-tumor chemical components of Yunnan Guna Xiang
There are about 160 species of Goniothalamus plants in the family Lychee, distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia. This plant species is commonly used as a rheumatism, edema, and abortion medicine in many countries in South Asia, and as an analgesic, detoxifying, insecticidal, dysentery, and antimalarial drug in southern provinces and regions of China. There are 10 species of plants in the genus Gonna in China, mainly distributed in provinces and regions such as Guangxi, Yunnan, Hainan, and Taiwan. At present, scholars at home and abroad have discovered components such as styrene lactone, alkaloids, terpenes, flavonoids, and coumarin from plants of the genus Colubrica. Among them, coumarin and styrene lactone are characteristic components of plants of the genus Colubrica, with strong anti-tumor activity, and are known as the “stars of anti-cancer tomorrow”.
G. yunnanensis, also known as Yunnan Yunnanensis, is a plant species belonging to the family Annonaceae and is endemic to China. Growing in areas with an altitude of 350 meters, mostly under mountain forests, mainly distributed in Yunnan and other parts of China. At present, there are no research reports on the chemical composition and biological activity of Yunnanxiang. In order to explore the bioactive substances in Yunnanxiang, the research team conducted studies on the chemical composition and in vitro anti-tumor effects of Yunnanxiang, in order to provide scientific basis for the utilization of valuable wild plant resources and the development of anti-tumor drugs in China.

This experiment studied the chemical composition and in vitro anti-tumor activity of ethanol extract from Yunnan Konaxiang. Nineteen compounds were isolated and identified, including alkaloids (1-9, 18), styrene lactones (10-12), flavonoids (13), and triterpenoids (19). All compounds were isolated from this plant for the first time, and the cytotoxic activity of nine compounds was tested on human tumor cell lines HCC1806, HCT116, and Hela using the SRB method. The results showed that compounds 7 and 12 exhibited significant cytotoxic activity against three human tumor cell lines, with styrene lactone compound 12 showing superior cytotoxic activity against the three human tumor cell lines compared to aporphine alkaloids compound 7 and flavane compound 13. And for the first time, compound 12 was found to have a significant inhibitory effect on the proliferation of HCC1806 and HCT116 cancer cells, with IC50 values of 5.2 ± 0.7 and 3.1 ± 0.5 μ M, respectively.
Styrene lactone compounds are characteristic components of plants in the Colubriaceae family, and are widely present in plants of the Colubriaceae genus. Goniothalamin is the first styrene lactone compound isolated from the bark of Cryptocaryacalooneura by Hlubucek and Robertson, and also the first styrene lactone compound isolated from plants of the genus Goniothalamine. Goniothalamin was first discovered as an embryotoxic compound, but later studies found that this compound has good anti-tumor activity and cytotoxic effect, and has a significant effect on gastric cancer (HGC-27), breast cancer (MCF-7 T47D、MDA-MB-231) 、 Leukemia (HL-60), ovarian cancer (Caov-3) and other cancer cells have significant inhibitory effects on proliferation, and no toxicity evidence was observed after administering goniothalamine to mice with Ehrlich tumors, indicating that goniothalamine has good biocompatibility, that is, it inhibits tumor growth without side effects; Goniothalamin mainly regulates the cancer cell cycle and induces cancer cell apoptosis through oxidative stress response and caspase activation. This article also found for the first time that compound goniothalamin (12) has a significant inhibitory effect on the proliferation of HCC1806 and HCT116 cancer cell lines, providing experimental evidence for the design and development of anti-tumor drugs.
In summary, this study conducted the first research on the chemical composition and anti-tumor activity of Yunnan GeNa Xiang, and preliminarily elucidated the pharmacological substance basis of Yunnan GeNa Xiang’s anti-tumor activity, providing certain experimental basis for the development and utilization of Yunnan GeNa Xiang in anti-tumor field.