Anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic chemical constituents from the trunks of Berberis wallichiana

The chemical compositions and biological activities of the Berberis wallichiana trunk were evaluated for the first time. The alkaloid berberine was found as the main constituent of this plant. In the essential oil fraction, safrole was the most abundant component. The isolated 8-oxypalmatine compound exhibited cytotoxic effects on all three cancer cell lines A549 (human lung carcinoma), MDA-MB-231 (human breast carcinoma), and DU145 (human prostate carcinoma), while berberine was the most active to DU145 cells (IC50 of 4.99 μM). This alkaloid compound also potently inhibited the production of nitric oxide with IC50 at 0.017 μM. These findings suggested that the trunks of B. wallichiana might be a good source of bioactive compounds.