Objectives This work aimed to isolate and characterize the chemical constituents of the roots of Pinus massoniana Lamb. and to evaluate their anti-inflammatory activity by assessing the inhibition of nitric oxide release in LPS-induced macrophages. Methods The compounds were isolated after extensive separation and purification. Structural elucidation of the new compound was performed using a combination of NMR spectroscopy, experimental circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, and computational CD analysis, whereas known compounds were identified by comparing their spectroscopic data with those reported in the literature. All compounds were evaluated for nitric oxide inhibition using the Griess assay. Results One new compound, namely pinumin A ( 1 ), was isolated alongside thirteen known compounds: cedrusinin ( 2 ), (7 S ,8 R )-dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol ( 3 ), (2 R ,3 R )-2,3-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzyl)butyrolactone ( 4 ), nortrachelogenin ( 5 ), nectandrin B ( 6 ), machilin I ( 7 ), (+)-tsugacetal ( 8 ), (‒)-pinoresinol ( 9 ), pinostilbene ( 10 ), pinosylvin ( 11 ), resveratrol ( 12 ), ( S )-8-hydroxycarvotanacetone ( 13 ) and isosclerone ( 14 ). Compounds 1 , 5 , and 8 demonstrated inhibition of LPS-induced NO production, with IC 50 values of 36.9 μM, 47.9 μM, and 39.3 μM, respectively. Conclusion One new compound, namely pinumin A ( 1 ) and thirteen known compounds were isolated from the roots of Pinus massoniana. Compounds 1 , 5 , and 8 demonstrated inhibition of LPS-induced NO production, with IC 50 values of 36.9 μM, 47.9 μM, and 39.3 μM, respectively. These results provide a reference for the subsequent discovery of anti-inflammatory active substances.
Jiang et al. (Sun,) studied this question.