Mayapple

N Amoican mayapple. Podophyllum peltatum L., Berbaidaceae, Ang. poisonous agait once used by die American Indians to commit suicide... 

Podophyllotoxin, a potentially lethal component of mayapple, blocks cell division and has tumor-inhibiting properties. Two drugs derived from it are approved for use in the U.S. Etoposide is used to treat testicular and small-cell lung cancer. Teniposide is employed with brain tumors and childhood leukemia (see Chapter 62). 

Some herbs are contraindicated when pregnant because they are thought to have an influence on the uterus. These include barberry, bloodroot, calamus, cascara sagrada, fennel, goldenseal, juniper, lavender, licorice root, male fern, mayapple,... 

Two compounds, VP-16 (etoposide) and a related drug, VM-26 (teniposide), are semisynthetic derivatives of podophyllotoxin, which is extracted from the mayapple root (Podophyllum peltatum). Both an intravenous and an oral formulation of etoposide are approved for clinical use in the USA. 

The genus Podophyllum (Berberidaceae family), including the American P. peltatum L. (American mayapple) and Indian or Tibetan P. emodi WaU (syn. P. hexandrum Royle), has been... 

Podophylli resina (mayapple) A slow-acting but powerful cathartic. It was a favorite of botanic practitioners, who used it as a substitute for calomel. 

The plants just mentioned, the blackberry, chinquapin, (Casta-nea) and dogwood to be used as astringents, the gentians, pipsissewa, Sabbatia, etc., as bitter tonics, can easily be obtained by our soldiers while in camp, and they will be found to fulfill aU the indications required in most cases of fever, dysentery, diarrhea, catarrhs, etc. In the formation of demulcent drinks, as substitutes for flaxseed and gum-arabic, the roots and leaves of the sassafras, and the leaves of the Bene (Sesamum) will suffice. The Podophyllum (wild jalap [i.e., mayapple]) will supply the purgative therefore, with the possession of opium and calomel, the surgeon in the field can himself obtain almost everything desired, and with comparatively little aid from the Medical Purveyors. Our chief desiderata now are the preparations of potash, viz nitrate chlorate and bicarbonate, and sup. carb. of soda. We may procure soda from our Salsola kali [saltwort]." 9... 

Podophyllum Antimitotic for venereal warts Podophyllum peltatum Mayapple... 

Dysosma pleianthum (bajiaolian), a species of mayapple, has been widely used for thousands of years in China as a general remedy and for the treatment of snake bite, weakness, condyloma acuminata, lymphadenopathy, and tumors. Podophyllotoxin is one of its main ingredients. Five people who drank infusions of bajiaolian developed nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, abnormal liver function tests, sensory ataxia, altered consciousness, and persistent peripheral tingling or numbness (6). 

Etoposide and teniposide are semisynthetic podophyllotoxin derivatives (see Table 124-13). Podophyllin is extracted from the mayapple or mandrake plant. Like the vinca alkaloids, podophyllin itself binds to tubulin and interferes with microtubule formation. Unlike the parent compound, however, etoposide and teniposide damage tumor cells by causing strand breakage through inhibiting topoisomerase Resistance may be caused by differences in topoisomerase II levels, by increased cell ability to repair strand breaks, or by increased levels of P-glycoproteins. Etoposide and teniposide are usually clinically cross-resistant. They are cell-cycle phase-specific and arrest cells in... 

PERIWINKLES, MAYAPPLES AND YEW TREES ANTI-CANCER DRUGS FROM PLANTS... 

This mode of action is not unique since the natural product colchicine, from the autumn crocus Colchicum autumnale (once used as a treatment for gout), also binds to tubulin and disrupts microtubule assembly. It was never seriously considered as an anti-cancer drug owing to its low therapeutic index that is, the dose required to produce clinical benefit was not much greater than the dose causing serious adverse effects or even death. A third plant product with similar biological properties, podophyllotoxin from the American Mayapple, provided the stimulus for research that led to the discovery of another excellent anti-cancer drug - etoposide. 

The resin product obtained by extraction of the dried roots and rhizomes of the North American plant Podophyllum peltatum L. (the American mandrake or mayapple) and of the related Indian species Podophyllum emodi Wall. Ex Royle is known as podophyllin and has long been known to possess medicinal properties. The major active substance in podophyllin is the lignan lactone podophyllotoxin (7) although a variety of other lignans and lignan glycosides have also been isolated from podophyllin. ... 

The terms mandrake and mayapple are used synonymously in the United States, being the plant species Podophyllum peltatum [of the plant family Podophyllaceae], which contains the toxic agent podophyUotoxin, which apparently has an anticancer or cancerostatic action [Hoffman, 1999, p. 81]. However, in Europe the mandrake is the species Mandragora officinarum of the family Solanaceae and contains belladonna-type alkaloids, namely, tropane or atropine alkaloids that include scopolamine and hyoscyamine. These are noted to have an anticancer action [Hoffman, 1991, p. 144]). 

The herb ealled periwinkle, whieh may be any of several genera and species, supplies two eompoimds used in modem medicine. One of these, vinblastine, is employed for Hodgkin s disease and lymphomas, and is also used on solid tumors. The other, vincrystine, is employed for lymphatic leukemia. Mayapple, or podophyllum, has also been found effeetive. Periwinkle in itself has, of course, been used as a cancer treatment, as previously indicated. 

Epipodophyllotoxins The epipodophyllotoxins, VM-26 and VP-16, used in selected tumor types, are semisynthetic derivatives of the podophyllotoxin isolated from the Mayapple plant. Both drugs inhibit the enzyme topoisomerase II and block DNA replication in dividing tumor cells. Again, these drugs cause both type A ADRs such as marrow depression and type B ADRs such as hypersensitivity and possible hepatotoxicity. 

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