Two Novel Acyclic Monoterpenoids from Patrinia villosa (Thunb.) Juss. and Their Anti-Inflammatory Evaluation

• • Two new acyclic monoterpenoids, patrivic acid B (1) and 8-acetylpatrivic acid B (2), were isolated from the n-butanol fraction of P. villosa, with yields sufficient for full spectroscopic characterization; their NO inhibition rates at 50 μmol/L were only (6.16 ± 1.41)% and (11.11 ± 2.10)%, respectively, which are below the typical 50% threshold for considering a compound a promising anti-inflammatory lead, indicating that these scaffolds are unlikely to justify further development as anti-inflammatory agents without structural optimization. • • Compounds 3, 4, 10, 11, and 14 were isolated from P. villosa for the first time, expanding the known chemical space of this species; this matters for quality control and chemotaxonomic authentication of herbal materials, as the presence of these markers can differentiate P. villosa from related Valerianaceae species and prevent adulteration in commercial supply chains. • • The isolation protocol employed a sequential extraction and chromatographic train (silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20, semi-preparative HPLC) that successfully resolved 14 compounds from a complex n-butanol matrix; this workflow is scalable to pilot-scale separation, but the low yields of the new monoterpenoids (not reported quantitatively) suggest that industrial production would require large biomass inputs, likely exceeding 10 kg of dried plant material per gram of pure compound. • • The anti-inflammatory evaluation used LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 cells with NO release as the endpoint, a standard but non-specific assay; the observed inhibition rates for 1 and 2 are statistically distinguishable from baseline but clinically irrelevant, as positive controls (e.g., dexamethasone) typically achieve >70% inhibition at 10 μmol/L. This negative result is critical for directing future research toward other compound classes (e.g., lignans 8–12) that may exhibit more potent activity.