Gastroprotective Effect and Cytotoxicity of Semisynthetic Jatropholone Derivatives

Abstract

The gastroprotective effect of the diterpenes jatropholone A, jatropholone B and 16 semisynthetic derivatives was assessed in the HCl/ethanol-induced gastric lesion model in mice and the cytotoxicity was determined towards fibroblasts and AGS cells. In a dose-response study, jatropholone B reduced gastric lesions by 65 % at 6 mg/kg and jatropholone A by 54 % at 100 mg/kg. The jatropholone B derivatives 9 - 14 and the compounds 15 - 18 were compared at a single oral dose of 25 mg/kg while the jatropholone A derivatives 2 - 7 were assessed at 100 mg/kg. A decrease in gastroprotective activity was observed for the ether as well as for the ester derivatives of jatropholone B. The methyl and propyl ethers of jatropholone A were more gastroprotective than the natural product. The placement of an additional methyl group at C-2 in the jatropholone B derivatives led to a loss of selectivity, the methyl and propyl ethers lack a gastroprotective effect. Jatropholone B was not toxic towards AGS cells and fibroblasts. Jatropholone A was active only against AGS cells. The gastroprotective effect of the epimeric jatropholones was selective showing a higher effect for jatropholone B. These results further support that the stereochemistry of the methyl group at C-2 in the jatropholones plays a relevant role in preventing the gastric lesions in mice. The compounds 3, 5 - 7, 10 and 12 - 18 are described for the first time.

Abbreviations

AGS cells: human gastric adenocarcinoma cells

DMF: dimethylformamide

DMSO: dimethyl sulphoxide

FBS: fetal bovine serum

MEM: minimum essential Eagle's medium

MRC-5 cells: human lung fibroblasts

NRU: neutral red uptake

Key words

Jatropha isabelli - Euphorbiaceae - jatropholone - semisynthetic derivatives - gastroprotective activity - cytotoxicity

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