Unusual matrine-adenine hybrids isolated from Sophora davidii and their inhibitory effects on human cytomegalovirus

Abstract

A phytochemical investigation on the flowers of Sophora davidii resulted in the isolation of three unusual matrine-adenine hybrids, sophovicines A-C, together with biogenetically related analogue sophocarpine. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by NMR analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. Since sophovicines represent the first example of matrine-adenine hybrids, a putative biosynthetic pathway toward sophovicines A-C was proposed. In addition, computational molecular modeling suggested that compounds sophovicines B and C may have potent activities against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). So, the inhibit effects of isolates on HCMV were evaluated. The results show that sophovicines B and C can inhibit HCMV replication effectively with IC₅₀ values of 7.12 and 7.32 μM, respectively.

Keywords: Alkaloids; Anti- human cytomegalovirus; Edible flowers; Fabaceae; Matrine–adenine hybrids; Sophora davidii.