Antiproliferative effects of isopentenylated coumarins isolated from Phellolophium madagascariense Baker

From the leaves of Phellolophium madagascariense Baker ( Apiaceae), an endemic herb to Madagascar, three known coumarins ( osthol, murraol and meranzin hydrate) have been isolated and identified. This is the first report of these compounds in this species. The structural elucidations were based on the analysis of physical and spectroscopic data. The anticancer activity of the three isolated compounds and of a synthetic sample of osthol was evaluated on L1210 mouse leukemia and on human prostatic cancer hormonosensitive LNCaP and hormonoindependent PC3 and DU145 cell lines.