Lignans are a group of natural polyphenols present in medicinal plants and in plants which are a part of the human diet for which more and more pharmacological activities, such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, and cytoprotective, are being reported. However, it is their cytotoxic activities that are best understood and which have shed light on this group. Two anticancer drugs, etoposide, and teniposide, were derived from a potent cytotoxic agent—podophyllotoxin from the roots of Podophyllum peltatum. The evidence from clinical and observational studies suggests that human microbiota metabolites (enterolactone, enterodiol) of dietary lignans (secoisolariciresinol, pinoresinol, lariciresinol, matairesinol, syringaresinol, medioresinol, and sesamin) are associated with a reduced risk of some hormone-dependent cancers. The biological in vitro, pharmacological in vivo investigations, and clinical studies demand significant amounts of pure compounds, as well as the use of well-defined and standardized extracts. That is why proper extract preparation, optimization of lignan extraction, and identification are crucial steps in the development of lignan use in medicine. This review focuses on lignan extraction, purification, fractionation, separation, and isolation methods, as well as on chromatographic, spectrometric, and spectroscopic techniques for their qualitative and quantitative analysis.

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Inflammation is the first physiological defence mechanism against external and internal stimuli. The prolonged or inappropriate response of the immune system may lead to the persistent inflammatory response that can potentially become a basis for chronic diseases e.g., asthma, type II diabetes or cancer. An important role in the alleviation of inflammatory processes, as an adjunct to traditional pharmacological therapy, is attributed to phytotherapy, especially to raw materials with a long tradition of use, e.g., ash leaves. Despite their long-term use in phytotherapy, the specific mechanisms of action have not been confirmed in a sufficient number of biological or clinical studies. The aim of the study is a detailed phytochemical analysis of infusion and its fractions, isolation of pure compounds from the leaves of Fraxinus excelsior and evaluation of their effect on the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6) and IL-10 receptor expression in an in vitro model of monocyte/macrophage cells isolated from peripheral blood. Methods: Phytochemical analysis was carried out by the UHPLC-DAD-ESI-MS/MS method. Monocytes/macrophages were isolated from human peripheral blood using density gradient centrifugation on Pancoll. After 24 h incubation with tested fractions/subfractions and pure compounds, cells or their supernatants were studied, respectively, on IL-10 receptor expression by flow cytometry and IL-6, TNF-α, IL-1β secretion by the ELISA test. Results were presented with respect to Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) control and positive control with dexamethasone. Results: The infusion, 20% and 50% methanolic fractions and their subfractions, as well as their dominating compounds, e.g., ligstroside, formoside and oleoacteoside isolated from the leaves, show the ability to increase the IL-10 receptor expression on the surface of monocyte/macrophage cells, stimulated by LPS, and to decrease the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, e.g., TNF-α, IL-6.