Limonoids isolated from Toona sinensis and their radical scavenging, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activities

A phytochemical investigation of the ethanol extract of Toona sinensis (A. Juss.) Roem resulted in the isolation of ten new limonoids, toonasinenines A–J (1–10), together with two known compounds, toonafolin (11) and toonacilianin D (12). Their structures were determined by spectroscopic analyses. The isolated components were evaluated in vitro for radical scavenging potential using ABTS(⋅+) and DPPH test, anti-inflammatory activities for Cox-1 and Cox-2, and cytotoxicies against nine tumour cell lines (A549, BGC-823, CHG-5, HCT15, HeLa, HepG2, MDA-MB-231, SHG-44 and SGC-7901 cells). As a result, 4, 5 and 7–10 showed potent radical scavenging activities, while limonoids 1–4 and 11 exhibited significant anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic potential.