Chemical Constituents from Caesalpinia sappan and Their Biological Activity

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the arginase inhibitory activity of isolated compounds from Caesalpinia sappan L. heartwood. Based on bioactivity-guided fractionation, the ethyl acetate fraction (inhibits arginase activity at a concentration of 50 \(\mu\)g/mL) was further subjected to column chromatography to obtain five compounds (1-5). The chemical structures of the isolated compounds were determined by analyzing NMR spectral data and referring to data from the literature. The arginase II inhibitory activity of compounds 1-5 was investigated in vitro using an enzyme solution prepared from the kidney of anesthetized C57BL/6 mice. Compounds 1 and 5 potentially inhibit arginase II activity, with IC₅₀ values of 8.1 and 12.6 \(\mu\)M, whereas the remaining compounds were inactive. This study is the first to assess compounds isolated from C. sappan heartwood with regard to their arginase inhibitory activity.