Constituents of Gastrodia elata and Their Neuroprotective Effects in HT22 Hippocampal Neuronal, R28 Retinal Cells, and BV2 Microglial Cells.

Gastrodia elatais widely used in traditional medicine and contains various types of metabolites with pharmacological activity. In the course of searching for neuroprotective molecules associated with the potential ofG. elatain the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders, two new phenolic compounds (1and2) and a new tripeptide (3), together with 16 known compounds (4-19), were isolated from the rhizomes ofG. elata. The structures of the compounds were determined by the interpretation of spectroscopic data, including nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry data. All obtained compounds were assessed for their ability to protect neuronal cells against neurotoxicity and neuroinflammation. Of these,4and5were found to possess moderate activities in HT22 hippocampal neuronal cells, whereas2,6, and7showed weak activities in R28 retinal cells. Additionally, compound9showed moderate inhibitory activity on lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in BV2 microglial cells.