Hepatoprotective homoisoflavonoids from the fruits of Cucumis bisexualis.

Cucumis bisexualis has been widely served as a beneficial wild fruit in China. Four new homoisoflavonoids (1–4), together with eight known homoisoflavonoid derivatives (5–12) were isolated from the 90% EtOH extract of C. bisexualis, using repeated open column chromatography and preparative thin‐layer chromatography. They were elucidated based on the analysis of spectral data and references from the fruits of C. bisexualis for the first time. These compounds (1–12) were evaluated for their in vitro inhibitory effects against the increase of aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels in H2O2‐induced HepG2 cells in the range of their maximum nontoxic concentration. Among them, compounds 3, 4, 8, and 9 exhibited certain hepatoprotective activities. Practical applications: Cucumis bisexualis A.M. Lu ＆ G.C. Wang is an edible and medical fruit with many functional properties. A detailed study was made to identify the bioactive constituents of C. bisexualis and four new homoisoflavonoids (1–4) and eight known homoisoflavonoid derivatives (5–12) were isolated from the fruits of C. bisexualis for the first time. Compounds 3, 4, 8, and 9 exhibited certain hepatoprotective activities. This study suggests that natural compounds isolated from C. bisexualis could be used as promising hepatoprotective agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]