Aristolochia

According to Folkers and Unna, the Peruvian ehazuta curare (bamboo type) is made from C. tomentosum R. and P., Annona ambotay Aubl., Aristolochia rumicifolia Mart, and Zucc. and an unidentified plant which is neither a menisperm nor a Stryehnos. Of these four the first was... 

The Aristolochias are used in medicine as tonics due to the presence of bitter principles, though Hesse suggested that A. reticulata Nutt, then the serpentary root of commerce, might contain aristolochine, and the view that the bitter constituents are of alkaloidal character has been confirmed by Krishnaswamy, Manjunath and Rao, for A. indica L. 

The family Aristolochiaceae is a family of herbaceous plants often used in Asia and the Pacific to counteract snake poisoning, promote urination and menses, mitigate stomachache, and treat dropsy and skin diseases. During the past 20 years, members of this family, especially from the genus Aristolochia have attracted much interest and has been the subject of numerous chemical and pharmacological studies. The anti-inflammatory property of Aristolochia species is probably the result of a direct... 

A. indica L. Indian Aristolochia, also known as Indian birthwort, ishvara (Sanskrit), or adagam (Tamil), is a bitter climber native to India. The medicinal material consists of the rhizome, which is to resolve inflammation (India), counteract insect poison, and as an antipyretic (Philippines and Vietnam). The rhizome contains aristolochic acid, which inhibits in vitro and dose-dependent phospholipid hydrolysis by the human synovial fluid phospholipase A2, snake venom phospholipase A2, porcine pancreatic phospholipase A2, and human platelet phospholipase A2 (2). 

Hong et al. showed that a methanol extract of Aristolochia debilis is a potent inhibitor of COX-2 activity (7). 

Wu TS, Leu YL, Chan YY. Aristofolin-A, a denitro-aristolochic acid glycoside and other constituents from aristolochia kaempferi. Phytochemistry 1998 49 2509-2510. 

Tree sparrow Passer Swallowtail butterfly Aristolochic acids (from Aristolochia Nishida and... 

The natural Aristolochia N-containing substances may be divided into three structural types nitrophenanthrenic acids, phenanthrene lactams, and isoquinoline alkaloids. 

Aristolochic acid derivatives have been found only among plants of the family Aristolochiaceae (Aristolochia spp. and Asarum canadense var. reflexum (34)) and in Bragantia wallichii (35,36). In all derivatives, substitution of nitro group is present at C-10, the carboxy group is present at C-1, and a methylenedioxy is substituted at C-3 and C-4 only. This general structure will be very interesting in biosynthesis and plant biochemistry. 

The IR spectra are useful for detecting functional groups of Aristolochia alkaloids. Aristolochic acids show two characteristic bands at 1550 and 1350 cm due to the absorption of nitro group, and the carboxy OH group appears at 3000-2500 cm as a broad continuous absorption. Hydroxy derivatives of aristolochic acids or aristolactams show OH and NH absorptions at 3300-3500 and 3200-3400 cm The carboxy or lactam carbonyl is present at 1690 cm i. In general, the aromatic ring system shows stretches at 1625-1575 and 1525-1475 cm 1 as usual, and observation of the 900-700 cm region is often used for analysis of substitution type in aromatic derivatives 28). 

The mass spectra of Aristolochia N-containing compounds were first reported by Pailer et al., who studied the electron impact-induced fragmentation of the esters of aristolochic acids. They found that the nitro radical is very easily split off from the molecular ion, giving the base peak (M — 46) +, and then the CH3, CO, etc. were removed. Pailer etal. concluded the fragmentation was as shown in Scheme 3 (26). 

The genus Aristolochia comprises approximately 200 species, many of which have played important roles in folk medicine for treating sore throat, venomous snakebites, wounds, fevers, and tuberculosis. The chemistry and pharmacology of aristolochic acid, the main active principle, was researched by many scientists. Many worthy achievements in the pharmacology of aristolochic acid have been published. 

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