title: The minor ecdysteroids from Ajuga turkestanica.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ajuga turkestanica is a plant used in traditional medicine for its high ecdysteroid content, including the presence of the particularly active turkesterone, which possess efficient anabolic activity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To isolate and identify minor ecdysteroids present in a semi-purified plant fraction containing ca. 70% turkesterone.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multi-step preparative HPLC (combining RP- and NP-HPLC systems) was used to purify the different components present in the turkesterone fraction. Isolated compounds were identified by high-resolution mass spectrometry and 2D-NMR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen ecdysteroids (including turkesterone and 20-hydroxyecdysone) were isolated. Seven of these, all bearing an 11α-hydroxy group, were previously unreported.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ajuga turkestanica ecdysteroids are characterised by the abundance of 11α-hydroxylated compounds and by the simultaneous presence of 24C, 27C, 28C and 29C ecdysteroids. It is expected that even more ecdysteroids are to be found in this plant since the starting material for this study lacked the less polar ecdysteroids. The simultaneous presence of 20-hydroxyecdysone and turkesterone (its 11α-hydroxy analogue) as the two major ecdysteroids suggests that every ecdysteroid is probably present in both 11α-hydroxy and 11-deoxy forms.
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, IBPS-BIOSIPE, CNRS FR 3631, 7 Quai Saint Bernard, Case Courrier 29, 75252, Paris Cedex 05, France.|Institut Biophytis, F-93230, Romainville, France.
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guibout
authors.affiliation: Institute of the Chemistry of Plant Substances, Mirzo Ulugbek Str. 77, Tashkent, 100170, Uzbekistan.
authors.forename: Nilufar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mamadalieva
authors.affiliation: Institut Biophytis, F-93230, Romainville, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Balducci
authors.affiliation: Université Paris Descartes, Laboratoire de Chimie et Biochimie Pharmacologiques et Toxicologiques, CNRS UMR 8601, 45 rue des Saints-Pères, F-75270, Paris Cedex 06, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Girault
authors.affiliation: Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, IBPS-BIOSIPE, CNRS FR 3631, 7 Quai Saint Bernard, Case Courrier 29, 75252, Paris Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lafont
mesh_terms: D031328:Ajuga / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid / Q000379:methods; D026461:Ecdysteroids / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004441:Ecdysterone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D026461:Ecdysteroids; D004441:Ecdysterone; C017787:turkesterone
keywords: Ajuga turkestanica; Lamiaceae; phytoecdysteroid