Imperatorin

Imperatorin is a furocoumarin and a phytochemical that has been isolated from Urena lobata L., Angelica archangelica, Angelica dahurica, Glehnia littoralis, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Cnidium monnieri, Incarvillea younghusbandii, and Zanthoxylum americanum mill. It is biosynthesized from umbelliferone, a coumarin derivative.

Isolation

The procedure for the isolation of imperatorin from Urena lobata involves exhaustively extracting under reflux with benzene the air-dried and pulverised roots followed by separation by column chromatography.

Biochemical activity

Imperatorin was identified from a Bioactive Molecules library in a high throughput screening experiment for inhibitors of the phosphodiesterase PDE4. It displays a significant preference for PDE4B over PDE4A. Imperatorin has been shown to have anti-inflammatory activity in chondrocytes. Imperatorin treatment inhibits the expression of iNOS and suppresses the production of NO in osteoarthritic chondrocytes.