Both aqueous and methanolic fractions derived from the Tibetan preparation PADMA-28 (a mixture of 22 plants) used as an anti-atherosclerotic agent, and which is non-cytolytic to a variety of mammalian cells, were found to strongly inhibit (1) the killing of epithelial cells in culture induced by 'cocktails' comprising oxidants, membrane perforating agents and proteinases; (2) the generation of luminol-dependent chemiluminescence in human neutrophils stimulated by opsonized bacteria; (3) the peroxidation of intralipid (a preparation rich in phopholipids) induced in the presence of copper; and (4) the activity of neutrophil elastase. It is proposed that PADMA-28 might prove beneficial for the prevention of cell damage induced by synergism among pro-inflammatory agonists which is central in the initiation of tissue destruction in inflammatory and infectious conditions.

The glycosidic fraction isolated from the seeds of Styrax officinalis L. yielded on acid hydrolysis egonol and a new benzofuran derivative which was formulated as 2-(3.4-dimethoxyphenyl) -5-(3-hydroxypropyl)-7-methoxybenzofuran. EGONOL was isolated by Okadal as an unsaponifiable constituent of the semen-oil of Styrax japonicum Sieb et Zucc; and Kawai et aL2 elucidated its structure and formulated it as 5-(3-hydroxypropyl)-7-methoxy-2-(3,4methylenedioxyphenyl) benzofuran (I).The glycosidic fraction of the seeds of Styrax oficinalis L. yielded after acid hydrolysis and chromatography egonol (I) and two other minor constituents. We describe here the structure elucidation of one of the crystalline minor constituents, for which we propose the formula 2-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-5-(3-hydroxypropyl)-7-methoxybenzofuran (11).The empirical formula C,,H,,05 indicated for compound (11) by analysis was supported by mass spectro-

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