Anti-inflammatory and Cytotoxic Effects of Compounds from the Aerial Parts of Achillea alpina L.

Achillea alpina L. is a medicinal herb belonging to the Asteraceae family. Its leaves are used as a vegetable and for treating stomach ailments in Korea. Our current research focused on isolating and identifying the chemical constituents from the aerial parts of this plant, leading to the discovery of 23 compounds, including 4 pentacyclic triterpenes (1‒4), 3 steroids (5, 7, and 8), 3 cycloartanes (9‒11), 5 lignans (6, 12, 14, 20, and 18), 4 flavonoids (13, 17, 21, and 22), 3 feruloyl sucroses (16, 18, and 19), and 1 caffeoyl quinic acid (23). The structures of these compounds were determined through spectral data analysis (1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy) and comparison with relevant literature. Notably, the isolated sterols (5, 7, and 8) and flavone (13) inhibited NO production in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells with IC₅₀ values ranging from 8.69 to 43.17 µM. Additionally, sterol (5) exhibited cytotoxic effects on HeLa and HL-60 (human leukemia) cancer cell lines with ED₅₀ values ranging from 53.57 to 78.33 µM.