Discovery of diverse daphnan diterpenoids in Daphne pontica

A research group led by Professor Wei Li of the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Toho University, in collaboration with the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ankara University, and Ankara Medipol University, revealed the presence of various daphnan diterpenoids in the Rhizophyllaceae (Faceae family). I did. .

Daphnan diterpenoids have anticancer, anti-HIV, and analgesic properties, suggesting that D. pontica has the potential to be a novel plant resource for drug discovery. The study was published in the journal Phytochemical Analysis on November 7, 2024.

Important points

LC-MS/MS analysis revealed the presence of daphne diterpenoids with diverse chemical structures in Daphne pontica. Among the detected dafnan diterpenoids, six compounds were presumed to be previously unreported compounds based on MS/MS fragmentation elucidation. Comparative analysis of diterpenoids in stems, leaves, and fruits of D. pontica demonstrated that stems were the most abundant source of daphnan diterpenoids. This study highlighted the potential of D. pontica as a resource for novel drug development by further investigating the biological activities of daphnan diterpenoids.

The family Corinthidae consists of more than 800 species in 53 genera and is distributed all over the world except the Arctic Circle. Plants of this family are characterized by the presence of diterpenoids with potent biological activities, including anticancer, anti-HIV, and analgesic properties.

Daphne pontica is an evergreen shrub of the genus Daphne, native to northern Turkey, southeastern Bulgaria, northern Iran, and the Caucasus region. In traditional medicine in Türkiye and Iran, it has been used as an antidiarrheal and painkiller.

Here, the research group used ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with a Q-Exactive hybrid quadrupole orbitrap mass spectrometer (UHPLC-Q-Exactive-Orbitrap MS) to analyze the stems, leaves, and fruits of D. pontica. and analyzed 33 dafnan diterpenoids in three parts.

This comprehensive analysis represents the first report on the complete identification of daphnan diterpenoids in D. pontica, including newly discovered compounds not previously isolated from other plants.