Heliotropium indicum

The Borage plant (syn. Forget-me-not) family (Boraginaceae Lindl.) contains L-ornithine (Figure 11 and 15) derived alkaloids, such as indicine-N-oxide in the heliotrope (Heliotropium indicum) and southern hound s tongue Cynoglosum creticum) species (Table 8). Farsam et al. reported on new alkaloids from... 

Boraginaceae Heliotropium indicum Cynoglossum spp. Symphytum officinale Indicine-A-oxide Indicine-A-oxide Acetyl-intermedine Acetyl-lycopsamine... 

Helianthum tuberosum esculentum Helianthus radice tuberosa Helianthus tomentosus Helianthus tuberosus Helianthus tuberosus var. subcanescens Heliotropium Indicum tuberosum Heliotropum Indicum tuberosum Herba solis tuberosa Herba solis tuberosa radice Hierusalem artichoke Honderthoofden... 

Previous work on Heliotropium indicum L. has demonstrated the presence of indicine (26) and acetylindicine (27).12 Plants grown in Bangladesh contained indicine as principal alkaloid, together with heliotrine (28), lasiocarpine (29), echinatine (30), supinine (31), and heleurine (32).13 The N-oxide of indicine (26), also isolated from this species, displayed significant antitumour activity.14 The dried plant material of H. ramosissimum contains 0.58% of alkaloids, the majority of which is heliotrine (28).15... 

More work has been reported on the nymphalid subfamilies Ithomiinae and Danainae. Dead shoots of Heliotropium indicum act as a powerful attractant for male ithomiine and danaine butterflies. The butterflies use alkaloids obtained from these plants for the production of chemicals with pheromone activity. Baiting with alkaloids and their esterifying acids indicated that a volatile product derived from... 

Vale, S. 1998. Subarachnoid haemorrhage associated with Ginkgo biloba. Lancet 352(9161), 36. van Weeren, P., Morales, J., Rodriguez, L., Cedeno, H., Villalobos, J., and Poveda, L. 1999. Mortality supposedly due to intoxication by pyrrolizidine alkaloids from Heliotropium indicum in a horse population in Costa Rica A case report. Vet. Q. 21, 59-62. 

Stereospermum personation (Hassk.) Chatterje Boraginaceae Heliotropium indicum L. 

A variety of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides have antitumor activity (Wink, 1993b). Herbal material of Senecio vulgaris (Asteraceae) has been used for hundreds of years as a treatment for cancer. The active compounds have been shown to be senecionine (5) and senecionine N-oxide. Indicine N-oxide (16) from Heliotropium indicum (Boraginaceae) has pronounced antitumor activity. Mono-crotaline (8), from several Crotalaria species (Fabaceae), has similar activity (Blasko and Cordell, 1988 Suffness and Cordell, 1985). Alkylation seems to be involved in the antitumor activity. As the A -oxides cannot serve as enamines and hence cannot be directly involved in alkylation, these compounds should only be active to the extent they are converted to the free bases. At least in the case of indicine iV-oxide (16), this does not appear to be the case (Suffness and Cordell, 1985). 

Kugehnan M, Liu WC, Axelrod M, McBride TJ, Rao KV (1976) Indidcine-N-oxide the antitumor principle of Heliotropium indicum. Lloydia 39 125-128... 

Hoque, M. S., a. Ghani, and H. Rashid Alkaloids of Heliotropium indicum Linn. Grown in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Pharm. J. 5, 13 (1976). 

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