Cytotoxic compounds from Zanthoxylum americanum

Four pyranocoumarins, dipetaline, alloxanthoxyletin, xanthoxyletin, and xanthyletin, and two liqnans, sesamin and asarinin were isolated from the northern prickly ash, Zanthoxylum americanum. To varying degrees, all six compounds inhibited the incorporation of tritiated thymidine into human leukemia (HL-60) cells and the inhibitory effect was dependent on the structures of the isolated compounds.