TRITERPENE ALCOHOLS FROM CAMELLIA AND SASANQUA OILS AND THEIR ANTIINFLAMMATORY EFFECTS

The nonsaponifiable lipids of camellia and sasanqua oils from the seed s of Camellia japonica L. and C. sasanqua THUNB, respectively, were in vestigated for their triterpene alcohol constituents, This led to the isolation of twenty-seven triterpene alcohols of which seven were nove l naturally occurring compounds, tirucalla-5,7,24-trien-3 beta-ol (1), lemmaphylla-7,21-dien-3 beta-ol (2), isoenphol (3), isotirucallol (4) , (24R)-24,25-epoxybutyrospermol (5) and its 24S-epimer (ii), and isoa glaiol (7), The structures were determined by spectroscopic and chemic al methods, The inhibitory effects of 3, 4, a mixture of 5 and 6, a mi xture of 7 and its 24S-epimer (aglaiol), and eight known triterpene al cohols isolated in this study were evaluated in ear inflammation in mi ce induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), The 50% inhi bitory dose of these triterpenes for TPA-induced inflammation (1 mu g per ear) was 0.2-0.9 mg/ear.