Eurycomalactone

Nat Prod Commun. 2010 Jul;5(7):1009-12.

Cytotoxic activity of quassinoids from Eurycoma longifolia.[Pubmed: 20734929 ]

METHODS AND RESULTS:
Twenty-four quassinoids isolated from Eurycoma longifolia Jack were investigated for their cytotoxicity against a panel of four different cancer cell lines, which includes three murine cell lines [colon 26-L5 carcinoma (colon 26-L5), B16-BL6 melanoma (B16-BL6), Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC)] and a human lung A549 adenocarcinoma (A549) cell line.
CONCLUSIONS:
Among the tested compounds, Eurycomalactone (9) displayed the most potent activity against all the tested cell lines; colon 26-L5 (IC50 = 0.70 microM), B16-BL6 (IC50 = 0.59 microM), LLC (IC50 = 0.78 microM), and A549 (IC50 = 0.73 microM). These activities were comparable to clinically used anticancer agent doxorubicin (colon 26-L5, IC50 = 0.76 microM; B16-BL6, IC50 = 0.86 microM; LLC, IC50 = 0.80 microM; A549, IC50 = 0.66 microM).

Fitoterapia. 2010 Oct;81(7):669-79.

Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia Jack): a review on its ethnobotany and pharmacological importance.[Pubmed: 20434529]

Eurycoma longifolia Jack is an herbal medicinal plant of South-East Asian origin, popularly recognized as 'Tongkat Ali.' The plant parts have been traditionally used for its antimalarial, aphrodisiac, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial and anti-pyretic activities, which have also been proved scientifically.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
The plant parts are rich in various bioactive compounds (like eurycomaoside, eurycolactone, Eurycomalactone, eurycomanone, and pasakbumin-B) among which the alkaloids and quassinoids form a major portion. Even though toxicity and safety evaluation studies have been pursued, still a major gap exists in providing scientific base for commercial utilization and clearance of the Tongkat Ali products with regard to consumer's safety.
CONCLUSIONS:
The present review aims at reviewing the research works undertaken till date, on this plant in order to provide sufficient baseline information for future works and for commercial exploitation.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2004 Jun;92(2-3):223-7.

Antiplasmodial studies of Eurycoma longifolia Jack using the lactate dehydrogenase assay of Plasmodium falciparum.[Pubmed: 15138004 ]

The roots of Eurycoma longifolia Jack have been used as traditional medicine to treat malaria.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
A systematic bioactivity-guided fractionation of this plant was conducted involving the determination of the effect of its various extracts and their chemical constituents on the lactate dehydrogenase activity of in vitro chloroquine-resistant Gombak A isolate and chloroquine-sensitive D10 strain of Plasmodium falciparum parasites. Their antiplasmodial activity was also compared with their known in vitro cytotoxicity against KB cells. Four quassinoids, eurycomanone (1), 13,21-dihydroeurycomanone (3), 13 alpha(21)-epoxyeurycomanone (4), Eurycomalactone (6) and an alkaloid, 9-methoxycanthin-6-one (7), displayed higher antiplasmodial activity against Gombak A isolate but were less active against the D10 strain when compared with chloroquine.
CONCLUSIONS:
Amongst the compounds tested, 1 and 3 showed higher selectivity indices obtained for the cytotoxicity to antiplasmodial activity ratio than 14,15 beta-dihydroxyklaineanone (2), eurycomanol (5), 6 and 7.

J Nat Prod. 2014 Mar 28;77(3):483-8.

NF-κB inhibitors from Eurycoma longifolia.[Pubmed: 24467387 ]

The roots of Eurycoma longifolia have been used in many countries of Southeast Asia to alleviate various diseases including malaria, dysentery, sexual insufficiency, and rheumatism. Although numerous studies have reported the pharmacological properties of E. longifolia, the mode of action of the anti-inflammatory activity has not been elucidated.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Bioguided isolation of NF-κB inhibitors using an NF-κB-driven luciferase reporter gene assay led to the identification of a new quassinoid, eurycomalide C (1), together with 27 known compounds including 11 quassinoids (2-12), six alkaloids (13-18), two coumarins (19, 20), a squalene derivative (21), a triterpenoid (22), and six phenolic compounds (23-28) from the extract of E. longifolia. Evaluation of the biological activity revealed that C19-type and C20-type quassinoids, β-carboline, and canthin-6-one alkaloids are potent NF-κB inhibitors, with IC50 values in the low micromolar range, while C18-type quassinoids, phenolic compounds, coumarins, the squalene derivative, and the triterpenoid turned out to be inactive when tested at a concentration of 30 μM.
CONCLUSIONS:
Eurycomalactone (2), 14,15β-dihydroklaieanone (7), and 13,21-dehydroeurycomanone (10) were identified as potent NF-κB inhibitors with IC50 values of less than 1 μM.

J Sep Sci. 2015 Apr 25.

Simultaneous quantitation of six major quassinoids in Tongkat Ali dietary supplements by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.[Pubmed: 25914245]

Tongkat Ali (Eurycoma longifolia) is one of the most popular traditional herbs in Southeast Asia and generally consumed as forms of dietary supplements, tea, or drink additives for coffee or energy beverages.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
In this study, the liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantitation of six major quassinoids of Tongkat Ali (eurycomanone, 13,21-dihydroeurycomanone, 13α,(21)-epoxyeurycomanone, 14,15β-dihydroxyklaineanone, Eurycomalactone and longilactone) was developed and validated. Using the developed method, the content of the six quassinoids was measured in Tongkat Ali containing dietary supplement tablets or capsules, and the resulting data was used to confirm the presence of Tongkat Ali in those products. Among the six quassinoids, eurycomanone was the most abundant quassinoid in all samples tested.
CONCLUSIONS:
The developed method would be useful for the quality assessment of Tongkat Ali containing dietary supplements. This article is protected by copyright.