Four new indole alkaloids from the roots of Isatis tinctoria

Chemical fractionation of the ethanolic extract of the roots of Isatis tinctoria L. (I. tinctoria) yielded fourteen indole alkaloids including four new ones, isatisindigoticanine L–N and isatindigoside M. Their structures were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic techniques including NMR, HRESIMS and IR as well as chemical methods. The absolute configuration of 1 was confirmed by ECD experiments. All the compounds were tested for their inhibitory effects on NO production in mouse mononuclear macrophages (RAW264.7) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The results showed that only compound 5 exhibited inhibitory effects with IC50 value of 18.5 μM.