Bioassay-guided fractionation of pterocarpans from roots of Harpalyce brasiliana Benth.

Pterocarpans, a special kind of isoflavonoids possessing two contiguous benzofuran and benzopyran rings, have been reported as possessing several biological activities. In order to isolate and identify the active principles possibly responsible for the stronger activity of the EtOH extract from roots of Harpalyce brasiliana on the antimitotic assay using sea urchin egg development, a bioassay-guided fractionation was performed. Six bioactive pterocarpan derivatives: 4'-dehydroxycabenegrin A-I, leiocarpin, medicarpin, cabenegrins A-I and A-II, and maackiain were isolated from the chloroform fraction of H. brasiliana extract. Leiocarpin was the most active on the sea urchin egg assay with IC(50) values ranging from 0.1 to 1.2 microg/mL, followed by 4'-dehydroxycabenegrin A-I. The isolated compounds were also tested for cytotoxicity against tumor cell lines in cultures, where 4'-dehydroxycabenegrin A-I was the most active, followed by leiocarpin. Additionally, some studies on the structure-activity relationship of these pterocarpans are suggested.