Cytotoxic and antimutagenic stilbenes from seeds ofPaeonia lactiflora

Cytotoxic and antimutagenic effects of a novelcis-ε-viniferin and five known stilbenes,trans-resveratrol,frans-ε-viniferin, gnetin H, suffruticosols A and B, isolated from the seeds ofPaeonia lactiflora Pall. (Paeoniaceae) were determined against five different cancer cell lines, and mutagenicity ofN-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) inSalmonella typhimurium TA100, respectively. Six stilbenes showed cytotoxic activity in a dose-dependent manner, and especially did potent cytotoxic activity against C6 (mouse glioma) cancer cell with IC50 values ranging from 8.2 to 20.5 ug/ml.trans-Resveratrol showed significant cytotoxic activity against HepG2 (liver hepatoma) and HT-29 (colon) human cancer cell lines with IC50 values of 11.8 and 25.2 g/ml, respectively. In contrast,trans-ε-viniferin andcis--viniferin, and gnetin H exhibited marked cytotoxic activity against Hela (cervicse) and MCF-7 (breast) human cancer cell lines with IC50 values of 20.4, 21.5, and 12.9 μg/ml, respectively. However, suffruticosol A and B had less cytotoxic effect against all cancer cells except C6. Meanwhile, six stilbenes exerted antimutagenic activity in a dose-dependent fashion. Of them,trans-resveratrol exhibited the strongest antimutagenic effect against MNNG with IC50 value of 27.0 μg/plate, while other five resveratrol oligomers also did moderate antimutagenic activity with IC50 values ranging from 31.7 to 35.2 μg/plate.