Antitumor sterols from the mycelia of Cordyceps sinensis

Activity guided fractionations led to the isolation of two antitumor compou nds 5 alpha,8 alpha-epidioxy-24(R)-methylcholesta-6,22-dien-3 beta-D-glucop yranoside and 5,6-epoxy-24(R)-methylcholesta-7,22-dien-3 beta-ol from the m ethanol extract of Cordyceps sinensis. Two previously known compounds, ergo steryl-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside and 22-dihydroergosteryl-3-O-beta-D-gluco pyranoside were also isolated. The structures of hitherto unknown sterols w ere established by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques with the former s ynthesized in order to confirm the identity of the sugar moiety by chemical correlation. The glycosylated form of ergosterol peroxide was found to be a greater inhibitor to the proliferation of K562, Jurkat, WM-1341, HL-60 an d RPMI-8226 tumor cell lines by 10 to 40% at 10 mu g/ml than its previously identified aglycone, 5 alpha,8 alpha-epidioxy-24(R)-methylcholesta-6,22-di en-3 beta-ol. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.