Cytotoxic triterpenoids from the roots of Bupleurum scorzonerifolium

As a part of our ongoing studies on cytotoxic triterpenoids from the genus Bupleurum, a 70 % ethanol extract of Bupleurum scorzonerifolium Willd. was systematically separated by silica gel column chromatography, HP-20 macroporous resin column chromatography, ODS column chromatography and HPLC, 15 triterpenoids were obtained, of which two were new compounds. Their structures were elucidated by 1D and D-2 NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and other spectroscopic methods. Additionally, these compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against four selected cancer cell lines using the MTT assay. Some of the isolated compounds exhibited appre-ciable cytotoxic activities against these four human cancer cell lines.