Anti-inflammatory and Quinone Reductase-Inducing Compounds from Beilschmiedia mannii

Previous studies on the therapeutic potential of plant species found in the diet of chimpanzees living in Taï National Park have shown that they could be potential candidates for the search of new molecules useful for humans. Based on the screening of some of these plants, the fruits of Beilschmiedia mannii, whose dichloromethane extract showed cancer chemopreventive properties, were selected. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the extract resulted in the isolation and identification of two γ-pyrones, including desmethoxydihydromethysticin (1), found in a natural source for the first time, and a new congener, beilschmiediapyrone (2), as well as five known alkamides (3 – 7). Their structures were established by using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry methods. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their cancer chemopreventive potential by using quinone reductase induction and nuclear factor-kappa B inhibition tests in Hepa 1c1c7 and HEK-293/NF-κB-Luc cells, respectively. Among them, compounds 1 and 2 were the most active. The concentrations to double the quinone reductase activity were 7.5 µM for compound 1 and 6.1 µM for compound 2. Compounds 1 and 2 inhibited nuclear factor-kappa B with IC50 values of 2.1 and 3.4 µM, respectively. These results are promising with regard to cancer chemoprevention, especially because this plant is also used for cooking by the local population around the Taï forest.