A New Sterol-Related Metabolite from the Soft Coral Capnella imbricata

Exploratory research was carried out on the ethyl acetate extract derived from the soft coral Capnella imbricata, , sourced from the southeastern waters of Taiwan. This investigation yielded the isolation of three sterol -related compounds (1-3). 1 - 3 ). Among these compounds, one previously unidentified metabolite, designated as 40-hydroxy-24-methylene-5-cholesten-7-one (1), 1 ), was discovered, along with two known metabolites, namely, 30-hydroxy-24-methylene-5-cholesten-7-one (2) 2 ) and gorgostan-5,25-dien-30-ol (3). 3 ). The structures of these isolated metabolites were determined through comprehensive spectroscopic analyses. Furthermore, the relative stereochemistry of metabolite 3 was established for the first time in this study using single -crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The potential anti-inflammatory properties of metabolites 1 - 3 were evaluated by investigating their ability to suppress the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX -2) proteins in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells.