Modern state of the chemical study of species of the genusHypericum

This review gives complete information on the chemical study of 66 species of the genusHypericum L. In individual sections the study of various groups of substances is discussed in a historical framework. The compounds isolated are given — hypericins, flavanols and tanning substances, flavones, flavonols, xanthones, coumarins, phenolcarboxylic acids, antibiotic substances, essential-oil compositions, nonvolatile saturated hydrocarbons, and other compounds. The value of these groups of substances in the connection with the pharmacological action and the therapeutic use ofHypericum species is shown. The structural formulas of 85 isolated compounds and their distribution in the species studied are given. The chemosystematic value of individual substances for the genusHypericum and the family Guttiferae is discussed.Pharmaceutical Faculty, Sofia Medical Scademy. Leningrad Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 185–203, March–April, 1987.     

Elegaphenone and 7-epi-clusianone, the major cytotoxic constituents of Hypericum elegans

Two cytotoxic constituents, namely elegaphenone and 7-epi-clusianone, were isolated from the aerial parts of Hypericum elegans Stepan ex Willd. Elegaphenone was identified as (E)-(2-(3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienyloxy)-4,6-dihydroxyphenyl)(phenyl)methanone by means of spectral evidence. Both compounds showed prominent cytotoxicity on HD-MY-Z, K-562 and KE-37 tumour cell lines. The IC(50) values for elegaphenone were 15.9 (HD-MY-Z), 13.9 (K-562) and 16.9 (KE-37) μmol while those of 7-epi-clusianone were 9.8 (HD-MY-Z), 11.8 (K-562) and 13.6 (KE-37) μmol. The established oligonucleosomal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) fragmentation of genomic DNA following short-term (6?h) or long-term (24?h) exposure to the tested compounds clearly indicates that the induction of apoptotic cell death is an important component for their cytotoxic mode of action.     

Biflavone, flavonol, and xanthone glycosides from Hypericum aucheri

Scientific Institute of Pharmacology and Pharmacy of the Medical Academy, Sofia. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 454–455, May–June, 1988.