“…In this paper, we report the neurotrophic effects of these 2,5-diaryl-3,4-dimethyltetrahydrofuran neolignans (2-7) for comparison with 1, the neuroprotective effects of neolignans (1-7) against Ab [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35] -induced cell death in primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons, 15) as well as against cell death induced by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium ion (MPP ϩ ), a neurotoxin used in the cellular model for Parkinson's disease. 16) 17) and its analogues, veraguensin (2), 18) galgravin (3), 19) aristolignin (4), 19) nectandrin A (5), 20) isonectandrin B (6), 20) and nectandrin B (7), 20) were isolated from a methanol extract of the root of A. arcuata as previously described. 14) Their structures were elucidated by extensive analyses of IR, MS, 1 H-, and 13 C-NMR spectra and identified by spectral data and specific rotations in the literature.…”