Malabaricone B is a diarylnonanoid that has been found in Myristica and has diverse biological activities, including enzyme inhibitory, antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant properties.1,2,3,4,5 It is an inhibitor of sphingomyelin synthase 1 and -2 (IC50s = 3.5 and 2.5 μM, respectively, in fibroblast cell lysates).1 It is active against the bacteria S. aureus, B. subtilis, and S. durans (MIC = 1 μg/ml for all) and three strains of the fungus C. albicans (MICs = 4-16 μg/ml).2 It is cytotoxic to A549, A375, Jurkat, A431, U937, and MCF-7 cells (IC50s = 8.1, 26.7, 27.4, 9.5, 27.5, and 9.3 μM, respectively) but not non-cancerous INT407, HEK293, or WI-38 cells.3 It increases the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and induces apoptosis in A549 cells. It reduces the formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substrates (TBARS) by 28.2% in rat liver mitochondria when used at a concentration of 2 μg/ml but scavenges only 5% of 2,2-diphenyl-picrylhydrazyl radicals at 7 μg/ml.4 Malabaricone B (10, 15, and 20 mg/kg) reduces stomach ulceration in a mouse model of indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer.5

|1. Othman, M.A., Yuyama, K., Murai, Y., et al. Malabaricone C as natural sphingomyelin synthase inhibitor against diet-induced obesity and its lipid metabolism in mice. Med. Chem. Lett. 10(8), 1154-1158 (2019).|2. Orabi, K.Y., Mossa, J.S., and El-Feraly, F.S. Isolation and characterization of two antimicrobial agents from mace (Myristica fragrans). J. Nat. Prod. 54(3), 856-859 (1991).|3. Tyagi, M., Maity, B., Saha, B., et al. Spice-derived phenolic, malabaricone B induces mitochondrial damage in lung cancer cells via a p53-independent pathway. Food Funct. 9(11), 5715-5727 (2018).|4. Patro, B.S., Bauri, A.K., Mishra, S., et al. Antioxidant activity of Myristica malabarica extracts and their constituents. J. Agric. Food Chem. 53(17), 6912-6918 (2005).|5. Banerjee, D., Bauri, A.K., Guha, R.K., et al. Healing properties of malabaricone B and malabaricone C, against indomethacin-induced gastric uleration and mechanism of action. Eur. J. Pharm. 578(2-3), 300-312 (2008).