Magnesium lithospermate B and rosmarinic acid, two compounds present in Salvia miltiorrhiza, have potent antiviral activity against enterovirus 71 infections.

The aim of this study was to identify the active ingredients responsible for the anti-EV71 activity produced by Salvia miltiorrhiza extracts. A pGS-EV71 IRES-based bicistronic reporter assay platform was used for rapid analysis of compounds that could specifically inhibit EV71 viral IRES-mediated translation. The analysis identified 2 caffeic acid derivatives, magnesium lithospermate B (MLB) and rosmarinic acid (RA), which suppressed EV71 IRES-mediated translation at concentrations of 30μg/ml.

Synthetic applications of sulfur-substituted indolizidines and quinolizidines.

Starting from the sulfur-substituted indolizidines and quinolizidines, a few useful synthetic transformations have been developed and the synthesis of some natural products including indolizidine 209D, epimyrtine, lasubine II, 8a-epi-dendroprimine, and 5-epi-cermizine C has been accomplished.