Aconitum plants

In the meantime, and turning attention to the Far East, there is the long history that the tubers of plants in the genus Aconitum (Ranunculaceae) have been used as arrow poisons for harpoons in Japan and neighboring countries. In Japan, the Ainu indigenous people of Hokkaido in northern Japan applied Aconitum toxin as an arrow poison. On the other hand, the tubers of Aconitum plants have also been used for heart medications under the name bu-shi or uzu for a long period of time. The main toxic alkaloid of Aconitum plants, aconitine, is described in Chapter 14.4. 

The dried tubers of Aconitum plants (Ranunculaceae) are known as U-zu or Bu-shi in Japan, and are used in Kampo medicine (formerly regarded as a form of traditional Chinese medicine). The crude drug is known to contain very poisonous aconitine-type alkaloids (Section 14.4). On the other hand, the methanol extract of the tubers of Anhalonium carmi-chaeli showed hypertensive activity against rats by intravenous injection. The active component was identified as the phenylethylamine-type alkaloid... 

Aconitum plants (Ranunculaceae) are widely distributed in the subarctic regions and the temperate zones in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, plants of this genus grow in major regions of Asia and Europe. It has been well known for thousands of years that the tuberous roots of Aconitum plants are deadly poisonous. Consequently, there are many stories about aconite poisoning in cultural history. 

Research studies on the aconite alkaloids started at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and aconitine was isolated from Actinidia napellus in 1833. As for the Aconitum plants of Japan, Shimoyama made the first report in 1882, and the plain chemical structure of aconitine was reported in the 1950s [4]. The stereochemistry, including absolute configuration, of the aconitine skeleton was determined when the total synthesis delphinine, an aconitine-related alkaloid, was achieved in 1972 [5-7]. 

Several diterpene alkaloids have been shown to possess structures and stereochemistries which are closely related to the hetisine structure (128), Vakognavine (129) and hypognavinol (130),which are both isolated from Aconitum plants, and spiradine A (131), " isolated from the shrub... 

In analysis of aconitine and the congeners mesaconitine and hypacoiutine, the main diester-diterpene alkaloids of aconitum plants (Ranunculaceae), sample... 

Preparations from Aconitum plants have been used in traditional Chinese medicine as cardiotonics, febrifuges, sedatives, and antirheumatics [22]. They have also been used in traditional medicine of some ex-USSR countries for the treatment of cancer, rheumatism, etc. [18, 23]. Aconitum plants were introduced in the medicine of European countries in the nineteenth century. Leaves and roots of Aconitum and aconitine powder were included in the British Pharmaceutical Codex (01911) [24], French Pharmacopoeia (9th edition) [25], and USSR Pharmacopoeia (8th edition) [26] and were applied to relieve neuralgic pain, especially in the face, to allay the pain of sciatica and acute rheumatism. Because of extreme toxicity, aconitine was replaced later by less-toxic anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents in European countries presently, the use of Aconitum plants is limited to the homeopathic medicine [27, 28]. On the contrary, in many Asiatic countries, aconitine-containing plants still remain one of the most popular remedies, and more and more new, naturally occurring or semisynthetic molecules from Aconitum species are introduced in medical use. Eor example, lappaconitine found in several Aconitum species, bulleyaconitine isolated from A. bulleyanum, and crassicauline A isolated from A. crassicaule were introduced in the official Chinese medicine for the treatment of chronic pain, rheumatoid arthritis, and for local anesthesia [29, 30]. 

Wang XW, Xie H (1999) Alkaloids of Oiinese Aconitum plants. Drugs Futur 24(8) 877... 

Aconitum septentrionale. In 1896 Rosendahl isolated from this plant three alkaloids, which were re-examined by Schulze and Ulfert and by Weidemann, whose results differ in some points. 

Rapid-acting channel-activating neurotoxin. It is obtained from the leaves and roots of various plants including wolfbane (Aconitum lycoctonum) and monkshood (Aconitum napellus). It is an off-white powder that is insoluble in water (0.03% ) but soluble in chloroform and benzene. Various salts have been reported. 

Abstract Recently, we have investigated Aconitum cochleare Woroschin and obtained three new alkaloids cochleareine, acoleareine from the aerial parts of the plant and cochleareinine from the roots. Cochlearenine exhibited antioxidant activity against DPPH free radical scavenging assay. The cardio active effect of has also have been studied on isolated heart preparations. 

There is a long history of the use of Aconitum, Delphinium and Consolida species as the source of poisons and medicinals [1]. These three genera in Ranunculaceae family yield diterpenoid and norditerpenoid alkaloids. The name Delphinium derived from dolphine-delphine due to the shape of their flower buds [2]. Aconitum has an evil reputation from the antiquity [3]. The plant was used as poison in old Greece, also in north-west Pacific the natives used it to poison the whales and also as arrow poison. In England in the ancient times the plant was used against wolves, boars, tigers as well as against rodents, and it was also a homicide material [4]. 

The history of Delphinium is more peaceful, although, due to its poisinous property it was used against mammals. Crushed seeds of Delphinium staphisagria L. was used against body lice [5]. British army used the plant for this aim in Waterloo war as well as in the Great War. Medicinal use of Aconitum and Delphinium spans... 

Distribution of alkaloids in traditional Chinese medicinal plants, 32, 241 (1988) Diterpenoid alkaloids Aconitum, 7, 473 (1960), 12, 2 (1970)... 

Ask the average person on the street about "natural products," and he or she is likely to mention the kinds of products found on the shelves of grocery stores and stores that specialize in "organic and "natural foods. Those items are overwhelmingly plant products, and they range from aconitum napellus (monkshood), alfalfa, allium cepa, aloe vera, angelica, and anise seed to witch hazel, yarrow, yellow dock, yohimhe hark, and yucca. 

SOURCE Roots of Aconitum napellus, A. Columbianum, A. ferox, and many others. Also present in seeds and, in small amounts, in all other parts of the plant. 

Aconite alkaloids Aconitine, molecular formula C34H47NO11, is an example of an aconite alkaloid. It is soluble in organic solvents, e.g. CHCI3 and CeHg, and sfightly soluble in alcohol or ether, but insoluble in water. Aconitine is an extremely toxic substance obtained from the plants of the genus Aconitum (family Ranunculaceae), commonly known as aconite or monkshood . It is a neurotoxin, and used for creating models of cardiac arrhythmia. 

Shoyama, Y., I. Nishioka, and K. Hatano. 1991. Aconitum spp. (monkshood) somatic embryogenesis, plantregeneration, and the production of aconitine and other alkaloids. In Bajaj, Y. P. S. (ed.). Biotechnology in Agriculture and Forestry 15. Medicinal and Aromatic plants III. Springer-Verlag. New York. p. 58-72. 

Another compound increasing the intracellular sodium concentration is the aconitine, a drug found in monkshood (Aconitum napellus) which is one of the most toxic plants in middle Europe. In cardiac muscle the alkaloid... 

Melibiose [0-a-D-galactopyranosyl-(l—>6)-D-glucopyranose] is a constituent of the trisaccharide raffinose (see Section II,2,f), and is liberated on hydrolysis of the latter by invertase. A detailed, structural elucidation of this disaccharide was described by French.115 Melibiose is found in the exudates115 and nectaries204 of several plants, and is also found in the tissues of various plants.75,110,123 205-209 In Aconitum... 

Bulbs and corns are modified underground stems. They are collected when they are fully grown. Bulbs of Allium cepa and Allium sativa are used. Corm of Colchicum autumnale is the source of the drug. Dried seeds provide source of drugs such as Nux vomica and Ignatia. Lycopodium is produced from spores of the plant Lycopodium clavatum, Opium from the latex of the capsules of the poppy plant, Papaver somniferum and Carbo vegetabilis from the charcoal. Whole plants are also used for the preparation of drugs like Aconitum napellus, Calendula officinalis, Chamomilla, Phytolacca decandra (Cook, 1988). 

Aconites, commonly called wolfsbane or monkshood, are species of Aconitum (Ranunculaceae), valued ornamental herbaceous plants, grown for their showy blue or purple flowers, which are shaped like a monk s cowl. Their alkaloid content, mainly in the roots, makes them some of the most toxic plants commonly encountered. The dried roots of Aconitum napellus were once used, mainly externally for relief of pain, e.g. in rheumatism. The toxic alkaloids (0.3-1.5%) are complex diterpene-derived esters. Aconitine (Figure 6.124) is the principal component (about 30%) and is a diester of aconine with acetic and benzoic acids. Hydrolysis products benzoylaconine and aconine are also present in dried plant material. These alkaloids appear to behave as neurotoxins by acting on sodium channels. All species of Aconitum and Delphinium are potentially toxic to man and animals and must be treated with caution. 

The Structure of Atidine.—An X-ray crystallographic analysis of atidine [C22H33NO3 m.pt 182.3—183.5 °C] has been reported.21 This compound has been isolated from plants of Aconitum heterophyllum Wall. Its structure was solved by direct phasing methods and refined to a final R of 0.045. Since atidine... 

The genus Consolida, Aconitum, and Delphinium (Ranunculaceae) are well-known to be rich in diterpene alkaloids, which possess a diverse range of biological activities. These plants have also been the cause of poisonings, which primarily occur in cattle as well as human beings, due to toxicity of their alkaloids. In one of our recent studies, five diterpenoid-derivative alkaloids, lycoctonine (9), 18-O-methyllycoctonine (10), delcosine (11), 14-acetyldelcosine (12), and 14-acetylbrowniine (13) (as shown in Fig. 3) were screened for their antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral activities [39]. 

Very little quantitative data have been reported in relation to the concentration of aconitic acid in various plant juices other than from cane sorghum and from sugar cane varieties although the acid has been identified in the juices from many other species of plants. It has been isolated from a variety of species of Aconitum,1-7-11 Delphinium,9 12 and Equisetum,2 3-l2a and also from Achillea millefolium,Adonis vernalis,u,lb Helinus ovatus,16 Sansevieria zeylancia,17 wheat,18 and from barley, maize, oat and rye plants.19 It can indeed be said that aconitic acid, at least qualitatively, is a commonly occurring constituent in the plant kingdom. 

The structure of cammaconine, isolated from plants of Aconitum variegatum, has been revised to (50) on the basis of the 13C n.m.r. data.9 Mollov and co-workers13 had assigned structure (51) to cammaconine from the results of a chemical correlation with isotalatizidine (52) and XH n.m.r. and mass-spectral analyses. Cammaconine is therefore identical with the hydrolysis product of aconorine (53), isolated from Aconitum orientate Mill.14... 

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