Forsskamide, a new ceramide from aerial parts of <i>Forsskaolea tenacissima</i> Linn.

<p>Although the various folk medicine uses and the biological activity of <i>Forsskaolea tenacissima</i> L., few chemical constituents of this plant have been reported, this provoked us to make our study. Forsskamide, a new ceramide was isolated from aerial parts of <i>F. tenacissima</i> L. (Urticaceae). The chemical structure was established by different spectroscopic methods (¹H, ¹³C-NMR, HMBC, HSQC, ROESY, FAB-MS and HR-FAB-MS). Forsskamide showed a moderate cytotoxic activity by (MTT) method against human colorectal carcinoma cell line (HCT-116) with IC₅₀ 33.25 μM in comparison with 5-fluorouracil IC₅₀ 26.42 μM. While, it did not show any activity against human hepatocarcinaoma cell line (HepG-2).</p