The pharmacology of pain control
Nan Stalker in Pain Control, 2018
Morphine is extracted from opium, which is the dried juice of the seed capsule of the opium poppy, papaver somniferum. Opium contains a large number of active drugs but therapeutic medical interest is primarily associated with two different classes of alkaloids present in the juice of the seed pod. The phenanthrene alkaloids, which include morphine and codeine. These alkaloids are strong analgesics and can produce sedation at high doses.The benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, of which papaverine is present in the highest concentration. These alkaloids are not analgesics but have a wide range of other pharmacological properties including vasodilation.
Aquatic Plants Native to America
Namrita Lall in Aquatic Plants, 2020
The American lotus can cover up to 40% of the estuary surfaces, but the potential biological properties promoting the dominance of this plant species at the natural plant population densities are not well understood (Francko and Whyte 1994). Vance and Francko (1997) reported that the extracts from American lotus exhibited no allopathic effect on the growth of two submerged plant species including watermilfoil (Myriophyllum spicatum) and sago pondweed (Stuckenia pectinatus) that are common to the coastal wetlands (Vance and Francko 1997). Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, the most important phytochemicals in N. lutea extracts, have been documented to possess numerous biological functions in vitro and in vivo. In fact, nuciferine from the N. nucifera extracts has been reported to exert antidiabetic, anti-HIV, antipsychotic, and melanogenesis inhibitory capacities (Farrell et al. 2016, Guo et al. 2013, Nakamura et al. 2013, Sakuljaitrong et al. 2013).
Preclinical Antidepressant-Like Effects of Terpenes, Polyphenolics, and Other Non-Flavonoid Phytochemicals
Scott Mendelson in Herbal Treatment of Major Depression, 2019
Berberine is a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid found in a variety of plants including European barberry, goldenseal, goldthread, Oregon grape, phellodendron, and tree turmeric. It is also contained in Berberis aristata, a major herb widely used in Indian and Chinese systems of medicine. Berberine exhibits a wide range of biological activities including antidiarrheal, antimicrobial, and antiinflammatory effects, as well as central nervous system activity. There is a large literature describing antidepressant-like effects of berberine in rodents. However, there are also studies of berberine for various human ailments, including diabetes. Indeed, in human subjects, berberine lowers serum glucose and fasting insulin, and increases insulin sensitivity.24
Integrated serum pharmacochemistry and investigation of the anti-gastric ulcer effect of Zuojin pill in rats induced by ethanol
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2022
Jiaying Zhang, Yi Yin, Qianqian Xu, Xiaoqing Che, Chen Yu, Yan Ren, Dongsheng Li, Juanjuan Zhao
Aporphine alkaloids are another type of alkaloid from CC that display various biological activities, such as antitumor, antimicrobial, reversal of multidrug resistance, and antiviral activities (Liu et al. 2014). Aporphine alkaloids are characterised by a tetracyclic aromatic basic skeleton, including the phenol oxidative coupling of a benzylisoquinoline precursor (Ge and Wang 2018). Magnoflorine, a representative aporphine alkaloid found in CC, was first analysed. Molecular ions M+ and fragment ions, including [M-45]+, [M-60]+ and [M-77]+, were easily detected in the magnoflorine spectrum. The fragmentation pathways are shown in Figure 3A, from which we found aporphine alkaloids easily broke and recombined the side chain. According to the diagnostic fragmentation pathways [M-45]+, [M-60]+ and [M-77]+ and accurate mass measurement within 5 ppm error, peaks 14 and 22 were assigned as menisperine and stephabine, respectively. The typical mass spectra of menisperine and its fragmentation pathways are exhibited in Figure 3B.
Berberine inhibits angiogenesis in glioblastoma xenografts by targeting the VEGFR2/ERK pathway
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2018
Fa Jin, Tao Xie, Xiaoguang Huang, Xinde Zhao
Berberine, a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid mainly isolated from Rhizoma coptidis [Coptis chinensis Franch. (Ranunculaceae)], has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years to treat diarrhoea and diabetes (Sun et al. 2009). More and more studies in recent years have shown that berberine also exerts inhibitory activity on many types of cancer, such as glioblastoma, colorectal, lung, prostate and ovarian (Peng et al. 2006; Eom et al. 2008; Meeran et al. 2008; Jin et al. 2015; Liu et al. 2015). In previous studies reported with human glioblastoma cells, berberine induced autophagy by targeting the AMPK/mTOR/ULK1 pathway, induced senescence by downregulating the EGFR/MEK/ERK pathway, and induced G1 arrest and apoptosis through mitochondrial/caspases pathway (Eom et al. 2008; Liu Q et al. 2015; Wang et al. 2016). However, an antiangiogenic mechanism has not been demonstrated. In this study, we tested inhibitory activity of berberine on angiogenesis in both cell-based assays and a mouse xenograft model of human glioblastoma, as well as clarified involvement of the VEGFR2/ERK pathway.
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of dextromethorphan: clinical and forensic aspects
Published in Drug Metabolism Reviews, 2020
Ana Rita Silva, Ricardo Jorge Dinis-Oliveira
DXM has been synthesized from a benzylisoquinoline by a process known as Grewe’s cyclization to give the corresponding morphinan with a three-dimensional structure. The isoquinoline is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octahydro-1-(4-methoxybenzyl) isoquinoline (there is just one residual double bond at the fusion position of the two rings of the isoquinoline) and it is converted into the N-formyl derivative, cyclized to the N-formyl normorphinan, and the formyl group reduced to an N-methyl group, to give 3-methoxy-17-methylmorphinan, or racemethorphan (WHO 2012).
Related Knowledge Centers
- Apomorphine
- Morphine
- Noscapine
- Papaverine
- Codeine
- Isoquinoline
- Moiety
- Moxaverine
- Natural Product
- Benzylisoquinoline Alkaloids