The chemical constituents and bioactivities of six medicinal plants have been studied. In the study, one hundred and one compounds, including twenty-six new compounds were isolated. Among these compounds, sixteen unique highly oxidized nortriterpenoids, belonging to an unprecedented new nortriterpenoid skeleton with a biosynthetically modified eight-membered ring, and unusual nortriterpenoids or bisnortriterpenoid skeletons, have been isolated from three Schisandra species. Interestingly, to date, no naturally occurring triterpenoids have been found to have such a highly modified oxidized norcycloartane skeleton.
The bioactivities of compounds isolated from the genus Schisandra have been tested, including anti-HIV-1, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxities against C8166, MT-4 and K562 cells activities. Gomisin G and micrandilactone C were found to show promising anti-HIV-1 activity and the selectivity index were 174.08 and >25.94, respectively.