Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Compounds Isolated from the Rhizome of .

Fifteen unreported compounds in , iriflophene (), hostaplantagineoside C (), tuberoside G (), spicatoside B (), platycodin D (), platycoside A (), platycodin D2 (), polygalacin D2 (), platycodin D3 (), isovitexin (), vitexin (), 3,4-dihydroxyallylbenzene-3--α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1→6)-β-d-glucopyranoside (), iryptophan (), adenosine (), α-d-Glucose monoallyl ether (), together with eleven known compounds (, , ⁻, ⁻, and ), were isolated from the rhizomes of . The chemical structures of these compounds were characterized using HRMS and NMR. The anti-inflammatory activities of the compounds were evaluated by investigating their ability to inhibit LPS-induced NO production in N9 microglial cells. Timosaponin BIII (TBIII) and trans-hinokiresinol (-HL) exhibited significant inhibitory effects on the NO production in a dose-dependent manner with IC values of 11.91 and 39.08 μM, respectively. Immunoblotting demonstrated that TBIII and -HL suppressed NO production by inhibiting the expressions of iNOS in LPS-stimulated N9 microglial cells. Further results revealed that pretreatment of N9 microglial cells with TBIII and t-HL attenuated the LPS-induced expression tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin-6 (IL-6) at mRNAs and protein levels. Moreover, the activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathways were inhibited by TBIII and -HL, respectively. Our findings indicate that the therapeutic implication of TBIII and -HL for neurogenerative disease associated with neuroinflammation.