New steroid saponins from Dioscorea zingiberensis yam and their medicinal use against I/R via anti-inflammatory effect

Steroid saponins are the medicinal compounds and nutrition ingredients of medicine food homology (MFH) C. H. Wright ( ) yam. Our phytochemical investigation of the edible rhizomes resulted in 9 new furostanol steroid saponins named - (1-9), together with 11 known steroid saponins. Their chemical structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic and chemical analyses. The new dioscins were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and beneficial effects against cerebral ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury on RAW264.7 and PC12 cells , respectively. , , and revealed considerable anti-I/R effect through an anti-inflammatory mechanism based on the decreasing concentration of pro-inflammatory (TNF-α and IL-6) and down-regulating the NF-κB expression. The present research demonstrated that daily consumption of this yam plant probably prevented the I/R occurrence the anti-inflammatory property of steroid saponins, and it also enriched the steroid saponin library, providing the possibility to develop MFH-containing steroid saponins into functional foods for maintenance of human health or drugs for the treatment of I/R disease.