The chemical constituents from Cornus officinalis were isolated and purified by various techniques such as macroporous adsorption resin,silica gel,octadecylsilyl(ODS),Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and preparative high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC).The structures of the isolates were determined by a combination of spectroscopic techniques such as high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(HR-ESI-MS),one-dimensional(1D)and two-dimensional(2D)nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)spectroscopy.Ten compounds were isolated from the aqueous extract of C.officinalis and identified as(±)-cornuscone(1),(-)-(Z)-4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylpropene 4-O-β-L-xylopyranosyl-(1 → 6)-β-D-glucopyranoside(2),kaempferol 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(3),kampferol(4),myricetin(5),trifolin(6),quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside(7),quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucuronide-6"-methyl ester(8),quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucuronide-6"-ethyl ester(9)and pyrogallol(10).Compound 1 is a new secoiridoid,named(±)-cornuscone with a rare methyl substitution at the C-1 position.The anti-inflammatory activity of 1 was evaluated in lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells in mice.The results showed the median inhibition concentration(IC50)of 1 was(31.15±1.29)μmol·L-1,which demonstrated that the anti-inflammatory activity of 1 was significantly superior to that of indomethacin[IC50 value of(48.32±1.66)μmol·L-1].