A new b-glucuronidase inhibiting butyrolactone from the marine endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus

Abstract

An endophytic fungus Aspergillus terreus, var. boedijnii (Blochwitz) was isolated from red marine alga Laurencia ceylanica, J. Agardh, cultured in large scale and extracted with EtOAc. The above-mentioned extract yielded a new butyrolactone, 3-hydroxy-4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-methoxycarbonyl-5-(4-hydroxy-3-formylbenzyl)-2,5-dihydro-2-furanone (1), along with the previously reported nine compounds, butyrolactone-1 (2), 6-hydroxymellin (3), (3 R, 4 R)-6,7-dimethoxy-4-hydroxymellin (4), (+)-territonin (5), (+)-territonin-A (6), (+)-asterrelenin (7), (+)-terrein (8), oleic acid (9) and glucopyranosyl-β-sitosterol (10), on column and preparative thin-layer chromatography. Compounds 1–8 were subjected to β-glucuronidase inhibitory activity test, and 1 showed a remarkable activity, while 2 and 7 showed moderate activity.