Minor Lignans with Inhibitory Activity against LPS-induced NO Production from Schisandra chinensis.

Phytochemical investigation into the fruits of Schisandra chinensis led to the isolation of seven new minor lignans, schisanchignans A-G (1-7), including one benzofuran type (1), three aryltetralin type (2-4) and three tetrahydrofuran type (5-7). Their structures were established by comprehensive spectroscopic analyses, and the absolute configurations were determined by electronic circular dichroism technique including quantum chemical calculation method. Of note, this is the first report of nor-benzofuran and aryltetralin types of lignans from S. chinensis. Compounds 1, 3 and 4 exhibited mild inhibitory activity against the lipopolysaccharide-induced production of nitric oxide in murine RAW264.7 cells.