Triterpene saponins with neuroprotective effects from a wild vegetable Aralia elata

Abstract

Aralia elata (Miq.) Seem. is a highly nutritious wild vegetable widely consumed in China, it can be made into salad, dumplings, pickles and soup for its fresh smell. In the phytochemical investigation of the constituents of Aralia elata, three new triterpene saponins (1–3), named congmusaponin I, II and III, along with twelve known ones (4–15) were isolated from the 70% EtOH extract of buds. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic analyses. All isolates were investigated for their neuroprotective effect on H2O2-induced damage in human dopaminergic neuroblastoma cells (SH-SY5Y), and the new compound 1 showed significant protective activity at 50 or 100 μM. The possible mechanism of compound 1 was proved to be through inhibiting H2O2-induced apoptosis and fighting against oxidative stress in neurodegenerative disease. The current study suggests that triterpene saponins in Aralia elata may play an important role in the neuroprotective properties.

Keywords

• Aralia elata
• Triterpene saponins
• Neuroprotective
• Oxidative stress