Steroidal Glycosides from Convallaria majalis Whole Plants and Their Cytotoxic Activity

Phytochemical examination of Convallaria majalis (Liliaceae) whole plants yielded 15 steroidal glycosides (1–15), including nine new compounds (4–6, 10–15) with a lycotetrose unit. The structures of the new compounds were determined using two-dimensional Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses and chemical methods. The isolated compounds were evaluated for cytotoxicity against HL-60 human promyelocytic leukemia cells, A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells, and HSC-4 and HSC-2 human oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. Of these, (25S)-spirost-5-en-3β-yl O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-[β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1→3)]-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-d-galactopyranoside (1) exhibited cytotoxic activity against HL-60, A549, HSC-4, and HSC-2 cells with IC(50) values ranging from 0.96 to 3.15 μM. The corresponding furostanol glycoside of 1, (25S)-26-[(β-d-glucopyranosyl)oxy]-22α-hydroxyfurost-5-en-3β-yl O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-[β-d-xylopyranosyl-(1→3)]-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-β-d-galactopyranoside (8), was cytotoxic to the adherent cell lines of A549, HSC-4, and HSC-2 cells with IC(50) values of 2.97, 11.04, and 8.25 μM, respectively. The spirostanol lycotetroside (1) caused necrotic cell death in A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Alternatively, the furostanol lycotetroside (8) induced apoptotic cell death in A549 cells in a time-dependent manner, as was evident by morphological observations and flow cytometry analyses.