A rapid, specific and sensitive ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for the simultaneous determination of four trace alkaloids, including aconitine (AC), hypaconitine (HA), mesaconitine (MA) and yunaconitine (YA) in human urine samples. UPLC-MS-MS system coupled with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source was performed in multiple reactio...

The duration of anesthesia (related to protein binding of a drug) and the onset time (determined by the pKa) are important characteristics in assessment of local anesthetic agents. They are known to be affected by a number of factors. Early studies of antiarrhythmic diterpenoid alkaloids from plants Aconitum and Delphinium suggested that they possess local anesthetic activity due to their abili...

BACKGROUND Aconitum species are poisonous plants that have been used in Western medicine for centuries. In the nineteenth century, these plants were part of official and folk medicine in the Slovenian territory. According to current ethnobotanical studies, folk use of Aconitum species is rarely reported in Europe. The purpose of this study was to research the folk medicinal use of Aconitum spec...

Early pharmacological studies of Aconitum and Delphinium sp. alkaloids suggested that these neurotoxins act at site 2 of voltage-gated Na(+) channel and allosterically modulate its function. Understanding structural requirements for these compounds to exhibit binding activity at voltage-gated Na(+) channel has been important in various fields. This paper reports quantum-chemical studies and qua...