TY - JOUR A1 - Trowitzsch-Kienast, W. A1 - Rühl, M. A1 - Kim, K.Y. A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Erben, U. A1 - Somasundaram, R. A1 - Freise, C. T1 - Absolute configuration of antifibrotic (+)-episesamin isolated from Lindera obtusiloba BLUME N2 - Fractionation of a 70% ethanolic extract from twigs of Lindera obtusiloba BLUME (Japanese spicebush, Tohaku) yielded fi ve fractions of different polarity. The antifi brotic activity within the chloroform phase was best assessed by an in vitro bioassay using rat hepatic stellate cell (HSC) proliferation and their autocrine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) expression as sensitive fibrosis-associated read out. Chromatography of the chloroform extract on Sephadex LH-20 or liquid-liquid extractions yielded a crystalline compound as an active principle, which was identifi ed from NMR and ESI-MS analyses, its melting point, and its optical rotation as (7S,7'S,8S,8'S)-3,4:3',4'-bis(methylenedioxy) -7,9':7',9-diepoxy-lignane [(+)-episesamin]. X-Ray diffraction confirmed the structure and provided, for the fi rst time, directly its absolute confi guration. (+)-Episesamin blocked proliferation and the profi brotic autocrine TGF-β expression HSC without signifi cant cytotoxicity. KW - TGF-beta KW - Liver Fibrosis KW - X-Ray Structure PY - 2011 SN - 0939-5075 SN - 0341-0382 SN - 0341-0471 VL - 66c IS - 9/10 SP - 460 EP - 464 PB - Verl. d. Zeitschrift für Naturforschung CY - Tübingen AN - OPUS4-24716 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -