Arch Pharm Res Vol 29, No 3, 195-198, 2006 lJarmatal ]&e~earcO http://apr.psk.or.kr New Butyrylcholinesterase Inhibitory Triterpenes from Salvia santolinifolia Sajid Mehmood, Naheed Riaz, Sarfraz Ahmed Nawaz 1, Nighat Afza, Abdul Malik 1, and Muhammad Iqbal Choudhary ~ Pharmaceutical Research Centre, PCS/R Laboratories Complex, Karachi-75280, Pakistan and ~/ntemationa/ Cen- tre for Chemical Sciences, H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemist~ University of Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan (Received November 20, 2005) Slavins A (1) and B (2), the new amyrin type triterpenes, have been isolated from the chloro- form soluble fraction of Salvia santolinifolia and assigned structures on the basis of spectral studies including 2D NMR. Both the compounds displayed inhibitory potential against the enzyme butyrylcholinesterase. Key words: Salvia santolinifolia, Labiatae, Triterpenes, Butyrylcholinesterase inhibition INTRODUCTION The genus Salvia belongs to family Labiatae which comprises of 24 species. This is a genus of suffruticose, much branched herbs and under shrubs distributed in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan. Salvia santolinifolia is a branched, scabrid and hispid straggling under shrub occurring in rocky arid areas. In Pakistan it occurs in Peshawar, Baluchistan and Karachi (Ali & Nasir 1990). Various species of this genus are widely used for treat- ment of coronary heart diseases, particularly angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, amenorrhea, dismenorrhea and insomnia (Ryu et al., 1997). These also possess antiseptic, carminative, diuretic, hemostatic and spasmolytic activities (Ulubelen et al., 2000). The leaves and seeds of S. santolinifolia are used as demulcent in diarrhoea and haemorrhoids. The copious mucilage is frequently mixed and used with the seeds of Plantago ovata to produce "lspaghof'. The seeds are also said to be useful in removing foreign bodies from the eye (Krishnamurthi 1978). Literature survey of the genus Salvia revealed the presence of a variety of compounds including diterpenes, aromatic ethers, phenolic glycosides, abietane type pig- ments and triterpenes (Ryu et al., 1997, Ulubelen et al., 2000, Nagy et aL, 1998). However, no work has so far been Correspondence to: Abdul Malik, International Centre for Chemi- cal Sciences, H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, Universityof Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan Tel: (92-21)4824926, Fax: (92-21)4819018 E-mail: abdul.malik@iccs.edu, mahmoodvr@yahoo.com carried out on S. santolinifolia. A methanolic extract of this plant revealed a strong toxicity in brine shrimp lethality test (Meyer et al., 1982). Further pharmacological screening showed inhibitory activity against the enzyme butyrylcholinesterase which was most pronounced in the chloroform soluble fraction. This prompted us to carried out the isolation of bioactive compounds from the chloroform soluble fraction. These studies have now resulted in the isolation and structure elucidation of two new triterpenes of amyrin-class named as salvins A (1) and B (2), respectively. Both of these showed inhibitory potential against enzyme butyrylcholinesterase. MATERIALS AND METHODS General experimental procedures Column chromatography was carried out using silica gel 70-230 mesh and flash chromatography on silica gel 230- 400 mesh. Aluminum sheets precoated with silica gel 60 F254 (20x20 cm, 0.2 mm thick; E-Merck) were used for TLC to check the purity and were visualized under UV light (254 and 366 nm) using ceric sulfate reagent. Optical rotations measured on a Jasco DIP-360 digital polarimeter. IR spectra were recorded on Shimadzu IR-460 spectro- photometer (v in cm-1). ELMS, FD, FABMS, and HRFABMS spectra were recorded on Jeol JMS-HX 110 spectrometer with data system. The 1H- and 13C-NMR spectra were re- corded on Bruker AMX-400 and AMX-500 instruments, using TMS as an internal reference. The chemical shift values are reported in ppm (5) units and the scalar 195