Cytotoxic triterpenes from Salvia buchananii roots

A pentacyclic triterpene, named salvibuchanic acid (1), together with five known compounds, were isolated from the roots of Salvia buchananii Hedge (Lamiaceae). The structural characterization of all compounds was performed by spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR, and HR-ESI-MS experiments. The lupane triterpene (1) and hyptadienic acid (2) were investigated for their potential cytotoxic activity on Jurkat, HeLa, and MCF7 cell lines. Both compounds showed an interesting antiproliferative activity with similar potency in all cell lines. By means of flow cytometric studies, hyptadienic acid (2) induced in HeLa cells a S cell cycle block, while 1 elicited both cytostatic and cytotoxic responses.