Antioxidant and cytoprotective compounds from Berberis vulgaris (barberry).
Activity-guided fractionation of an EtOAc-soluble partition of the MeOH extract from the root bark of Berberis vulgaris L. (barberry), using a hydroxyl radical-scavenging assay, led to the isolation and identification of three phenolic compounds of a previously known structure, N-(p-trans-coumaroyl)tyramine, cannabisin G and (+/-)-lyoniresinol. Of these, cannabisin G and (+/-)-lyoniresinol exhibited antioxidant activity in this bioassay. Furthermore, it was found that cannabisin G showed cytoprotective activity in cultured MCF-7 cells modulated by hydrogen peroxide. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Tomosaka H, Chin YW, Salim AA, Keller WJ, Chai H, Kinghorn AD.
Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University, 500 W. 12th Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.

Phytother Res. 2008 Apr 3