Chemical profiling of Fritillariae thunbergii Miq prepared by different processing methods reveals two new quality markers: Zhebeininoside and imperialine-3-β-D-glucoside

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Fritillariae thunbergii Miq (FTM)exhibit versatile biological activities including the significant antitussive and expectorant activities. As a herbal medicine, the therapeutic effects of FTM may be expressed by multi-components which have complicated integration effects on multi-targets. With the time going, the different processing methods of FTM has been changed a lot. Thus，the study described the effect of processing methods to FTM and its quality.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Studies were undertaken by using UHPLC-LTQ Orbitrap MS and pharmacodynamic models. All reagents were involved of analytical grade. While a HPLC-ELSD's method has been developed and validated, a certified Quality System is conformed to ICH requirements. The experimental animals followed the animal welfare guidelines.

AIM OF THE STUDY

We aimed to found the differences after the different processing methods of FTM, and to demonstrate the changes could be selected as quality control indicators, and established a method for simultaneous determination of these for quality control.

RESULTS

we have previously found two new steroidal alkaloids: zhebeininoside and imperialine-3-β-D-glucoside from the different processing methods of FTM, which is the difference between the different processing methods of FTM, mainly on the steroidal alkaloids. The activity analysis of zhebeininoside, imperialine-3-β-D-glucoside, verticine and verticinone showed that the mouse model of cough expectorant has antitussive effect. The positive drug selected was dextromethorphan syrup. The positive group showed biological activity, but the blank group showed nothing. The model group showed illness which means that the model was effective. There are two ways of the mechanism of action of the expectorant action which can make sputum thin, reduce its viscosity, and be easy to cough up, or can accelerate the movement of mucous cilia in the respiratory tract and promote the discharge of sputum. In our study, the content of phenol red was significantly reduced in the administration group.

CONCLUSIONS

To sum up, our results suggest that zhebeininoside and other three components cloud be selected as quality control indicators, and a method for simultaneous determination of zhebeininoside and other three components was established for quality control.

Identification of the Molecular Mechanisms of Peimine in the Treatment of Cough Using Computational Target Fishing

Peimine (also known as verticine) is the major bioactive and characterized compound of Fritillariae Thunbergii Bulbus, a traditional Chinese medicine that is most frequently used to relieve a cough. Nevertheless, its molecular targets and mechanisms of action for cough are still not clear. In the present study, potential targets of peimine for cough were identified using computational target fishing combined with manual database mining. In addition, protein-protein interaction (PPI), gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed using, GeneMANIA and Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) databases respectively. Finally, an interaction network of drug-targets-pathways was constructed using Cytoscape. The results identified 23 potential targets of peimine associated with cough, and suggested that MAPK1, AKT1 and PPKCB may be important targets of pemine for the treatment of cough. The functional annotations of protein targets were related to the regulation of immunological and neurological function through specific biological processes and related pathways. A visual representation of the multiple targets and pathways that form a network underlying the systematic actions of peimine was generated. In summary, peimine is predicted to exert its systemic pharmacological effects on cough by targeting a network composed of multiple proteins and pathways.

Mechanistic and therapeutic study of novel anti-tumor function of natural compound imperialine for treating non-small cell lung cancer

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Bulbus Fritillaria cirrhosa D. Don (BFC) is a Chinese traditional herbal medicine that has long been used as an indispensable component in herbal prescriptions for bronchopulmonary diseases due to its well-established strong anti-inflammation and pulmonary harmonizing effects. Interestingly, there are few case reports in traditional Chinese medicine available where they found it to contribute in anti-tumor therapies. Imperialine is one of the most favored active substances extracted from BFC and has been widely recognized as an anti-inflammatory agent.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of the current work is to provide first-hand evidences both in vitro and in vivo showing that imperialine exerts anti-cancer effects against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to explore the molecular mechanism of this anti-tumor activity. It is also necessary to examine its systemic toxicity, and to investigate how to develop strategies for feasible clinical translation of imperialine.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

To investigate anti-NSCLC efficacy of imperialine using both in vitro and in vivo methods where A549 cell line were chosen as in vitro model NSCLC cells and A549 tumor-bearing mouse model was constructed for in vivo study. The detailed underlying anti-cancer mechanism has been systematically explored for the first time through a comprehensive set of molecular biology methods mainly including immunohistochemistry, western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The toxicity profile of imperialine treatments were evaluated using healthy nude mice by examining hemogram and histopathology. An imperialine-loaded liposomal drug delivery system was developed using thin film hydration method to evaluate target specific delivery.

RESULTS

The results showed that imperialine could suppress both NSCLC tumor and associated inflammation through an inflammation-cancer feedback loop in which NF-κB activity was dramatically inhibited by imperialine. The NSCLC-targeting liposomal system was successfully developed for targeted drug delivery. The developed platform could favorably enhance imperialine cellular uptake and in vivo accumulation at tumor sites, thus improving overall anti-tumor effect. The toxicity assays revealed imperialine treatments did not significantly disturb blood cell counts in mice or exert any significant damage to the main organs.

CONCLUSIONS

Imperialine exerts anti-cancer effects against NSCLC both in vitro and in vivo, and this previously unknown function is related to NF-κB centered inflammation-cancer feedback loop. Imperialine mediated anti-cancer activity is not through cytotoxicity and exhibit robust systemic safety. Furthermore, the liposome-based system we commenced would dramatically enhance therapeutic effects of imperialine while exhibiting extremely low side effects both on cellular and in NSCLC model. This work has identified imperialine as a promising novel anti-cancer compound and offered an efficient target-delivery solution that greatly facilitate practical use of imperialine.

Application of UPLC-MS/MS to simultaneously detect four bioactive compounds in the tumour-shrinking decoction (FM1523) for uterine fibroids treatment

INTRODUCTION

The Chinese medicine formulation, tumour-shrinking decoction (TSD, FM1523), which consists of 15 natural medicines, is used for uterine fibroids (UFs) therapy and possesses excellent clinical therapeutic effect.

OBJECTIVE

To develop a sensitive and validated analytical method for the simultaneous quantification of four crucial bioactive compounds including isorhamnetin-3-O-neohesperidoside, curcumin, peimine and tetrahydropalmatine in the principal formulation of this decoction.

METHODS

An ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) with an electrospray ionisation (ESI) source in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode was conducted to investigate these bioactive compounds in the TSD. The chromatographic separation was performed on a C18 column when the flow rate was adjusted at 0.2 mL/min with gradient elution of acetonitrile-water with 0.1% formic acid. Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) method with higher extraction efficiency was employed for TSD sample pre-treatment.

RESULTS

The linearity, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were determined for this analytical method. The mean recoveries of the compounds were determined between 100.23% and 104.02% with satisfactory relative standard deviation (RSD) in the ranges of 2.65% to 3.81%. The precision was evaluated by intra-day and inter-day tests, which revealed RSD within the ranges of 1.21% to 2.14% and 1.24% to 2.32%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

The bioactive compounds of TSD samples were successfully quantified via UPLC-MS/MS with MRM mode. This study could help to evaluate the pharmacokinetic study of TSD during clinical applications and present a facile strategy for quantifying bioactive compounds in traditional Chinese Medicine decoction.

Verticine, ebeiedine and suchengbeisine isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. inhibited the gene expression and production of MUC5AC mucin from human airway epithelial cells

BACKGROUND

The bulb of Fritillaria thunbergii has been utilised as mucoregulators and expectorants for controlling the airway inflammatory diseases in folk medicine.

HYPOTHESIS/PURPOSE

We investigated whether verticine, ebeiedine and suchengbeisine isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria thunbergii inhibit the gene expression and production of MUC5AC mucin from human airway epithelial cells.

STUDY DESIGN

Confluent NCI-H292 cells were pretreated with verticine, ebeiedine or suchengbeisine for 30 min and then stimulated with EGF, PMA or TNF-α for 24h. The MUC5AC mucin gene expression was measured by RT-PCR. Production of MUC5AC mucin protein was measured by ELISA.

RESULTS

(1) Verticine, ebeiedine or suchengbeisine inhibited the expression of MUC5AC mucin gene induced by EGF, PMA or TNF-α; (2) The production of MUC5AC mucin protein induced by EGF, PMA or TNF-α were also inhibited by treatment of verticine, ebeiedine or suchengbeisine.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that verticine, ebeiedine and suchengbeisine isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria thunbergii inhibit the gene expression and production of MUC5AC mucin, by directly acting on airway epithelial cells, and the results are consistent with the traditional use of Fritillaria thunbergii as remedy for diverse inflammatory pulmonary diseases.

Peimisine and peiminine production by endophytic fungus Fusarium sp. isolated from Fritillaria unibracteata var. wabensis

Steroidal alkaloids, as the major biologically active components in Bulbus Fritillariae, possess a variety of toxicological and pharmacological effects on humans. The objective of this work was to determine whether endophytic fungi isolated from fresh bulbs of Fritillaria unibracteata var. wabensis can produce one or more alkaloids like its host plant. Four classical reagents including Wagner's, iodine-potassium iodide, Mayer's and improved Dragendorff's were used for primary screening. Then thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC-ELSD) were employed to identify the fermentation products of the selected strains. The results showed that extract from one stain (WBS007) has positive reactions in process of primary screening. A further TLC scan and HPLC-ELSD showed that strain WBS007 had two components with the same TLC relative front (Rf) value and HPLC retention time (RT) as authentic peimisine and peiminine. In addition, strain WBS007 was identified as Fusarium sp. based on phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequences. Thus, strain WBS007 produced the bioactive ingredient peimisine and peiminine, as does its host plant, and could be used for the production of peimisine and peiminine by fermentation.

A novel chenodeoxycholic acid-verticinone ester induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in HepG2 cells

In this study, the in vitro antitumor activity of chenodeoxycholic acid-verticinone ester (CDCA-Ver), a novel compound and its underlying mechanisms were evaluated. Results showed that CDCA-Ver significantly inhibited HepG2 cell viability in a both dose- and time-dependent manner, moreover CDCA-Ver induced apoptotic cell death and G(0)/G(1) cell cycle arrest in HepG2 cells. ROS generation, loss of balance of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential, activation of caspases and elevation of intracellular free Ca(2+) concentration were involved in the CDCA-Ver induced apoptosis pathway in HepG2 cells. We concluded that CDCA-Ver may be a potential candidate for the therapy of cancer.

Steroidal alkaloids from the bulbs of Fritillaria unibracteata

Two new steroidal alkaloids peimisine-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (1) and puqiedinone-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), together with three known compounds peimisine (2), puqiedinone (4), and puqiedine (5), were isolated and characterized from the bulbs of Fritillaria unibracteata. Their structures were fully elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical methods. Compound 1 showed moderate protection effect on neurotoxicity of PC12 cell lines induced by rotenone.

The effects of five alkaloids from Bulbus Fritillariae on the concentration of cAMP in HEK cells transfected with muscarinic M(2) receptor plasmid

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of five alkaloids, namely verticine, verticinone, imperialine, imperialine-3beta-D-glucoside, and puqietinone, purified from Bulbus Fritillariae and used as an antitussive drug in traditional Chinese medicine, on their antimuscarinic M(2) function and the cAMP level of HEK cells transfected with muscarinic M(2) receptor plasmid. By transfecting the HEK cells with the method of calcium phosphate co-precipitation and screening with G418, the cells stably expressing M(2) receptor were identified. The expression of M(2) receptor in HEK cells was confirmed by both RT-PCR and western blot. The cAMP level in the treated cells was analyzed with RIA method ((125)I-cAMP KIT). And the results suggested that the five alkaloids could significantly elevate the cAMP concentration in the HEK cells transfected with muscarinic M(2) receptor plasmid (p < 0.01).

Structural analysis and antitussive evaluation of five novel esters of verticinone and bile acids

Shedan-Chuanbei powder, a complex of traditional Chinese medicine preparation, which consists of Snake Bile (Chinese name "Shedan") and Fritillariae Cirrhosae (Chinese name "Chuanbei"), is the most popular antitussive and expectorant formulation in Chinese communities. However, the clinical application of Shedan-Chuanbei powder is now stringently limited because of the shortage of the two crude medicinal materials, especially for the sake of animal protection. In addition, the inherent defects of the most of the complex of traditional Chinese medicine such as the indistinct basal pharmacodynamic materials and the difficulties in quality control had blocked them heading into the international medicinal market. So we attempted to seek new substitute for Shedan-Chuanbei powder for antitussive drugs. In order to gain some new compounds with better bioactivity and attenuated toxicity, we tried to combine two kinds of drugs through ester bond. Enlightened with "combination principle" in drug discovery, we synthesized five novel esters of verticinone and bile acids, both of which are the major bioactive components in Shedan-Chuanbei powder. We then evaluated the antitussive activity and the acute toxicity of the five ester-linked compounds. The five ester-linked compounds had much more potent antitussive activity and expectorant activity than single bile acids at the same doses, and had equivalent antitussive activity and expectorant activity in comparison with about double moles dose of the monomer verticinone. Especially, cholic acid-verticinone ester had much more potent antitussive effects than the monomer verticinone or cholic acid at the same dose. A further acute toxicity study showed that the LD(50) values of the five ester-linked compounds exceeded 3.5g/kg by intraperitoneal injection in mice. Based on the studies of pharmacology and acute toxicity, the five ester-linked compounds have synergic pharmacodynamic action and attenuated toxicity compared with single verticinone and single bile acids.

Preparation and antitussive, expectorant, and antiasthmatic activities of verticinone's derivatives

To prepare verticinone derivatives with significant antitussive, expectorant, and antiasthmatic activities, the compounds 3beta-acetylverticinone (1), 3-ketoverticinone (2), 3beta-benzoylverticinone (3), 3beta-propionylverticinone (4), 3beta-butyrylverticinone (5), and 3beta-butoxycarbonylverticinone (6) have been prepared. All of these are new compounds. Among them, 1-6 exhibited potent antitussive and expectorant activities; 1 and 3-6 displayed various antiasthmatic activities. The antitussive activity of 1-6, the expectorant activity of 1-2 and 4-6, and the antiasthmatic activity of 1 are higher than those of verticinone. The results demonstrated that 1 had dominant biological activities, suggesting that it would be a potential antitussive, expectorant, and antiasthmatic agent.

Synthesis and antitussive evaluation of verticinone-cholic acid salt, a novel and potential cough therapeutic agent

AIM

To seek a novel and potent antitussive drug based on Shedan-Chuanbei powder, a complex of traditional Chinese medicine preparation for cough therapy.

METHODS

Verticinone-cholic acid (Ver-CA) salt, a novel, salifying derivative of verticinone and cholic acid, both of which are the major bioactive components in Shedan-Chuanbei powder, was synthesized. We then evaluated the antitussive activity and the acute toxicity of the salt.

RESULTS

The new compound, with good solubility in water, has much more potent antitussive activity in comparison with the same dose of single verticinone and single cholic acid. The administration 3 mg/kg of Ver-CA could result in over 50% reduction of a citric acid-induced cough. Pretreatment with naloxone (0.8 mg/kg, ip) can only partially antagonize its antitussive effect. On the other hand, glybenclamide (3 mg/kg, ip), an ATP-sensitive K+ channel blocker, can also significantly reduce the antitussive effect of Ver-CA. A further acute toxicity study showed that the LD(50) values of Ver-CA were 3 times that of verticinone.

CONCLUSION

Based on the studies of pharmacology and acute toxicity, the salt has a synergic and attenuated toxicity compared with single verticinone and cholic acid. Moreover, the present study also suggests that Ver-CA, a potential novel antitussive agent, may exert its antitussive effect via both the peripheral (modulated by ATP-sensitive K+ channels) and central mechanisms (modulated by the opioid receptor).

[Preparation and antitussive, expectorant and antiasthmatic activities of verticinone-bile acids salts]

To search for potential drugs with potent antitussive, expectorant, antiasthmatic activities and low toxicity, a series of verticinone-bile acids salts were prepared based on the clearly elucidated antitussive, expectorant and antiasthmatic activities of verticinone in bulbs of Fritillaria and different bile acids in Snake Bile. The antitussive, expectorant and antiasthmatic activities of these verticinone-bile acid salts were then screened with different animal models. Ver-CA (verticinone-cholic acid salt) and Ver-CDCA (verticinone-chenodeoxycholic acid salt) showed much more potent activities than other compounds. The bioactivities of Ver-CA and Ver-CDCA are worthy to be intensively studied, and it is also deserved to pay much attention to their much more potent antitussive effects than codeine phosphate. In order to elucidate whether they have synergistic effect and attenuated toxicity, their activities will be continuously compared with single verticinone, cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid at the same doses on different animal models. The application of "combination principles" in traditional Chinese medicinal formulations may be a novel way in triditional Chinese medicine research and discovery.

Inhibitors of acetylcholine esterase in vitro--screening of steroidal alkaloids from Fritillaria species

18 alkaloids were successfully isolated from five Fritillaria species and 5 derivatives were synthesized. Their effects on the bioactivity of human whole blood cholinesterase (ChE) were assessed. The results showed that N-demethylpuqietinone, hupeheninoside, ebeiedinone, yibeinoside A and chuanbeinone inhibited the bioactivity of human whole blood ChE at the concentration of 1.0 x 10 ( - 4) M, with the inhibitory effects of 55.5 +/- 2.7 %, 66.8 +/- 2.0 %, 69.0 +/- 1.7 %, 71.2 +/- 1.8 % and 70.7 +/- 3.3 %, respectively. The effects of the five alkaloids on human red blood cell (RBC) acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and human plasma butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) were further studied, and their IC (50) values for human RBC AChE were 6.4 +/- 0.003 microM, 16.9 +/- 0.018 microM, 5.7 +/- 0.004 microM, 6.5 +/- 0.013 microM and 7.7 +/- 0.001 microM, respectively, and the IC50 values for human plasma BChE were 12.5 +/- 0.026 microM, 2.1 +/- 0.005 microM, 5.2 +/- 0.002 microM, 7.3 +/- 0.005 microM and 0.7 +/- 0.001 microM, respectively. These data suggest, therefore, that N-demethylpuqietinone, hupeheninoside, ebeiedinone, yibeinoside A and chuanbeinone have both anti-RBC AChE and anti-plasma BChE activities, N-demethylpuqietinone is a selective inhibitor of AChE, whereas hupeheninoside and chuanbeinone are the selective inhibitors of BChE.

Steroidal alkaloids from bulbs of Fritillaria lichuanensis

A new steroidal alkaloid, hupehenizioiside (1), together with four known steroidal alkaloids hupehenizine (2), hupehenirine (3), peiminine (4) and hupeheninoside (5), were isolated and identified from the bulbs of Fritillaria lichuanensis. The structure of hupehenizioiside (1) was determined to be (20R,25S)-5alpha,14alpha,17beta-cevanine-6-oxo-3beta-O-beta-D-glucoside by spectral analysis and chemical evidence. Compounds (2)-(5) were isolated from Fritillaria lichuanensis for the first time.

The Structure of a new Crystalline Cevane Alkaloid: its identity with Persicanidine B and Harepermine

The structure of a new crystalline base (melting point (mp) 167-169 degrees C) obtained from Fritillaria imperialis was elucidated as (20R, 25R)-5alpha,17beta-cevanine-3beta,6beta-diol, X-ray diffraction analysis of the mono-hydrate. The base was found to be identical with persicanidine B and also with harepermine.

[A new steroidal alkaloid from the bulbus of Fritillaria wabuensia]

AIM

To investigate the chemical constituents of the bulbs of Fritillaria wabuensia.

METHODS

Chromatography techniques were used to isolate the chemical constituents. EI-MS, 1HNMR, 13 CNMR and DEPT were used to determine the structures of the isolated constituents.

RESULTS

Three alkaloids were isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria wabuensia, and were identified as imperialine (I), imperialine-beta-N-oxside (II), isoverticine-beta-N-oxide (III).

CONCLUSION

Isoverticine-beta-N-oxide was isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria wabuensia for the first time. Isoverticine-beta-N-oxide is a new alkaloid.

Sabadinine: a potential non-peptide anti-severe acute-respiratory-syndrome agent identified using structure-aided design

A novel human coronavirus has been reported to be the causative agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Since replication of HcoVs depends on extensive proteolytic processing, the main proteinase, 3CLpro, is an attractive drug target for anti-SARS agents. We have employed molecular docking of a chemical database into the active site of 3CLpro to search for non-peptidyl inhibitors. One compound was identified to be the natural product sabadinine, isolated from a historical herbal remedy.

[Studies on the chemical constituents from culbs of hybridized Bulbus Fritillariae Ussuriensis]

OBJECTIVE

To study the chemical constituents of hybridized Bulbus Fritillariae Ussuriensis.

METHOD

The chemical constituents were isolated by silica column chromatography and their structures were identified by physical and chemical eveidences and spectral analysis (IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 2D-NMR, MS).

RESULT

Seven compounds were obtained and identified as (20S,25S)5alpha, 14alpha, 17beta-cevanine-6beta-hydroxy-3-one (hupehenirine, ZF1), (20S,25S)5alpha, 14alpha, 17beta-cevanine-3beta-hydroxy-6-one (hupehenizine, ZF2), (20R,25S)5alpha, 14alpha-cevanine-3beta,20beta-dihydroxy-6-one (peiminine, verticinone, ZF3), (20S,25S)5alpha, 14alpha, 17beta-cevanine-3beta, 6beta-dihydroxy (hupehenine, ZF4), (20R,25S)5alpha, 14alpha-cevanine-3beta, 6beta, 20beta-trihydroxy (isoverticine, ZF5), (20R,25S)5alpha, 14alpha-cevanine-3beta, 6alpha, 20beta-trihydroxy (peimine, verticine, ZF6), (20S,25S)5alpha, 14alpha, 17beta-evanine-6beta-hydroxy-3beta-O-beta-D-glucoside (hupeheninoside, ZF7).

CONCLUSION

Compounds ZF1-7 were isolated from hybridized Bulbus Fritillariae Ussuriensis for the first time.

The extraction of imperialine and imperialine-3 beta-glucoside from Fritillaria pallidiflora Schrenk and quantitative determination by HPLC-evaporative light scattering detection

The extraction procedure and quantitative determination by HPLC-evaporative light scattering detection (ELSD) of the main bioactive components, namely, imperialine (1) and imperialine-3 beta-glucoside (2), of bulbs of Fritillaria pallidiflora Schrenk have been investigated. The most efficient method for the simultaneous extraction of 1 and 2 involved pre-treatment of the bulb powder with ammonia, followed by reflux with dichloromethane:methanol at 90 degrees C for 4 h. Simultaneous determination of non-chromophoric 1 and 2 by HPLC-ELSD employed a Kromasil C18 column eluted with acetonitrile:water:diethylamine. The assay was accurate and reproducible with an overall variation lower than 4% and a sample recovery higher than 98%. The methods described have been successfully used to evaluate the quality of three batches of the crude traditional Chinese medicinal herb derived from the bulbs of F. pallidiflora.

Structure-activity relationships of imperialine derivatives and their anticholinergic activity

In order to check the structure-activity relationship and prepare more potent derivatives of imperialine with anticholinergic activity, imperialinol (2), 3 beta-acetoxyimperialine (3), 3 beta-propionoxyimperialine (4), and 3 beta-butyroxyimperialine (5) were prepared. Compounds 4 and 5 displayed better anticholinergic activity against muscarinic receptors of the heart and brain than imperialine (1). The decrease in activity in 2 showed the importance of the 6-keto functionality in imparting the anticholinergic activity.

Partial synthesis of 3-O-vanilloylveracevine, an insecticidal alkaloid from Schoenocaulon officinale

3-O-Vanilloylveracevine has been synthesized for the first time in 70% overall yield by conversion of veracevine into its 3-O-(4-benzyloxy-3-methoxybenzoate) followed by catalytic hydrogenation. The insecticidal activity of the semisynthetic substance against three pest species is inferior to that of cevadine and veratridine, the major components of the insecticidal sabadilla alkaloid mixture.

Puqiedinone, a novel 5 alpha-cevanine alkaloid from the bulbs of Fritillaria puqiensis, an antitussive traditional Chinese medicine

A novel 5 alpha-cevanine alkaloid, puqiedinone [1], was isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria puqiensis, a traditional Chinese medicine used widely for its antitussive and expectorant properties. The structure of 1 was assigned as (20R,22S,25R)-20-deoxy-5 alpha-cevanine-3 beta-ol-6-one based on spectral analysis and comparison with the structures of related known compounds. Puqietinone [2] was also identified from the same herbal plant and the structure was revised as (22R,25S)-N-methyl-22,26-epiminocholest-3 beta-ol-6-one based on spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic methods.

[Studies on the chemical constituents of Fritillaria taipaiensis L]

A new C-nor-D-homo-steroidal alkaloid named taipaienine, together with five known alkaloids namely chuanbeinone, imperialine, verticinone, perimissine and isoverticine were isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria taipaiensis L. var. ningxiaensis Y. et W.. The unusual structure of taipaienine was a first sample with a hydroxyl group substituted at C-25 of (22)R-trans quinolizidine moiety with orientation of nitrogen lone pair. Their structures were determined by various spectral analyses.