Isoprenyl phenolic ethers from the termite nest-derived medicinal fungus Xylaria fimbriata

Mei-Chuan Chen a,b, Guei-Jane Wang c,d,e, Yueh-Hsiung Kuo f,g, Yin-Ru Chiang h, Ting-Yu Cho a, Yu-Ming Ju i, Tzong-Huei Lee j,*

a Graduate Institute of Pharmacognosy, Taipei, Taiwan

b The Ph.D. Program for the Clinical Drug Discovery from Botanical Herbs, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

c School of Medicine, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Science and Biomedical Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

d Department of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

e Department of Health and Nutrition Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan

f Department of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chinese Medicine Resources, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

g Department of Biotechnology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan

h Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

i Institute of Plant and Microbial Biology, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

j Institute of Fisheries Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Seven new isoprenyl phenolic ethers, namely fimbriethers A‒G (1‒7), were isolated from the fermented broth of the termite nest-derived medicinal fungus Xylaria fimbriata YMJ491. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data analysis and compared with those reported. The effects of all the isolates at a concentration of 100 mM on the inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells were evaluated, and all of them exhibited NO production inhibitory activity with Emax values ranging from 4.6 ± 2.0% to 49.7 ± 0.5% without significant cytotoxicity. In addition, these seven compounds did not alter phenylephrine-induced vasocontraction in isolated intact thoracic aortic rings from C57BL/6J mouse, indicating 1‒7 were not involved in the regulation of endothelial NOS-mediated NO production.

Keywords: Xylaria fimbriata, Fimbriether, Isoprenyl phenolic ether, Nitric oxide inhibition, Anti-inflammation