Menispermaceae family

Cocculus trilobus DC. (Menispermaceae family), found in the mountains of east Asia, has foUdoric uses as a diuretic, an analgesic, and an anti-inflammatory crude drug. 

Curare is a muscle relaxant drug, originally used as an arrow poison by Amazonian Indians. The traditional curare is prepared by a secret recipe thought to involve a number of plant species (Plotkin 1993). Plant sources of curare include Strychnos castelnaei and species in the Loganaceae family and Chondodendron tomentosum in the Menispermaceae family. Tubocurarine, a benzylisoquinoline dimer, is the major alkaloid in the curare plants. It exhibits paralysing effects on skeletal muscles, and is used as a muscle relaxant in surgical procedures. It controls convulsions caused by the toxic alkaloid strychnine. 

Coclaurine was isolated from the bark and trunk (0.04%) of Cocculus laurifoliay a small shrub of Menispermaceae family. This alkaloid has been found in the plants of Menispermaceae Cocculus, Sarcopetalum), Lauraceae daphne, Mechilus), Euphorbiaceae Croton), and Rhamnaceae Rutanilla, Zizyphus),... 

The family Menispermaceae consists of 70 genera and about 400 species of tropical climbers that have attracted a great deal of interest on account of their ability to elaborate... 

Fangchinoline (40), a 4> 5-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from Stephania tetrandra S. Moore (family Menispermaceae), was evaluated to possess significant antihyperglycemic activity studied in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic ddY mice in a dose-dependent manner the drug reduced the blood glucose level of diabetic mice by 52.7 6.7% when administered in 14 h-fasted diabetic mice at a dose of 1 mg/kg. Blood... 

It is interesting to note that the occurrence of C-7 oxygenated aporphine alkaloids with the C-6a R configuration is limited to the families Annonaceae, Lauraceae, Magnoliaceae, and Menispermaceae. Aporphine alkaloids oxygenated at both C-4 and C-7 have been found in the Annonaceae, but (-)-stephadiolamine /3-A-oxide (48) is the first known alkaloid hydroxyl-ated at both C-4 and C-7 and having a cis relationship between H-6a and H-7. (-)-O-Acetylsukhodianine is the first known example of a naturally occurring 7-acetoxylated aporphine (30). 

The first picrotoxanes discovered were isolated from the dried seeds of Menispermum cocculus (Anamirta cocculus) (1). Their characteristic features are two y-lactones and an oxrrane. M. cocculus belongs to the Menispermaceae ( moon seed family), which is in the order Ranunculales, and thus part of the primitive eudicots. So far, M. cocculus is the only species of the primitive eudicots recorded to contain picrotoxanes, and this species can be found in India, Sri Lanka, and southeast Asia. 

The genera in the family of Menispermaceae (Table 1) include chondrodendron and moonseed. 

Menispermacea, or Moonseed Family.—Choripetalous woody, climbing, tropical plants with alternate, exstipulate, simple often peltate leaves. Flowers green to white. Fruit a one-seeded succulent drupe. Seeds albuminous. They usually contain tonic, narcotic or poisonous bitter principles. 

The protoberberine alkaloids are widely distributed, occurring in at least eight botanical families. They occur most frequently in the various genera of the Papaveraceae but are also well represented in the Berber-aceae, Menispermaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rutaceae, and Annonaceae families. Table I shows the additional plant sources of the protoberberines that have been reported since the appearance of the last review in Volume IV. 

The alkaloids of the tropical family, Menispermaceae have been studied throughout the world and reviewed by Tomita in 1952 [63] and Thomber in 1970 [64]. Most of the alkaloids are either 1 -benzylisoquinoline or compounds theoretically derived from such precursors. The structures of alkaloids found to dale in South American Menispermaceae are classified under general structure types. 

Chapter 3 by Mary D. Menachery surveys the alkaloids of South American Menispermaceae (moonseed family). Many different structural types are included in this family. The alkaloidbearing plants are woody-vines, shrubs, or small trees. Several of these species possess potent curare activity. The chemistry as well as pharmacology of these alkaloids is summarized. 

There are four alkaloids in the (-)-curine family (-)-curine (133), cycleacurine (134), O,O-dimethylcurine (135), and 12 -O-methyIcurine (140). These alkaloids differ in the position of various phenolic hydroxy groups and methoxy groups among the C(7), C(12), and C(6 ) positions. (-)-Curine (133) has been isolated from six genera of the Menispermaceae including Chondodendron, Cissampelos. Cyclea, Paracyclea, Pleogyne, and Stephania. In addition, this... 

The two nonquatemary alkaloids of this small subgroup are chondocurine (130) and nor-N(,-chondocurine (230), the latter being the N(2 ) nor- derivative of the former. Chondocurine (also called chondrocurine) has been isolated from Chondodendron tomentosum and 2 species of Cyclea, all three plants being of the family Menispermaceae. The nor-base 230 and chondocurine have both been isolated from what is only described as Peruvian curare. 

It can be concluded that the occurrence of the alkaloids of this subgroup is almost completely restricted to one plant, Cocculus pendulus (Menispermaceae). Only one other Menispermaceous species, Triclisia gillelii, is known to contain an alkaloid of this type. Hence, the distribution of these bases is, for the time being, restricted to the Family Menispermaceae. 

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