Pyrrolizidine alkaloids are toxins present in many plants belonging to the families of Asteraceae, Boraginaceae and Fabaceae. Particularly notorious are pyrrolizidine alkaloids present in ragwort species (Senecio), which are held responsible for hepatic disease in horses and cows and may lead to the death of the affected animals. In addition, these compounds may be transferred to edible product...

Recently, two important steps in pharmacology on the partial synthetized derivatives of ergot alkaloids were made by a group of investigators in Switzerland. One was the hypotensive action of the hydrogenated alkaloids of the ergotoxine group and the other was the psychogenic or hallucinogenic action of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). The hydrogenated alkaloids of ergotoxine which is composed...

A diverse array of biologically active, lipid-soluble alkaloids have been discovered in amphibian skin. Such alkaloids include the following: the steroidal samandarines from salamanders, the batrachotoxins, histrionicotoxins, gephyrotoxins, and epibatidine from neotropical poison frogs (Dendrobatidae), the pumiliotoxins, allopumiliotoxins, homopumiliotoxins, and decahydroquinolines from certain...

GC-MS analysis of single-skins of ten Melanophryniscus rubriventris toads (five collections of two toads each) captured during their breeding season in NW Argentina has revealed a total of 127 alkaloids of which 56 had not been previously detected in any frog or toad. Included among these new alkaloids are 23 new diastereomers of previously reported alkaloids. What is particularly distinguishin...

High-performance liquid chromatography-atmospheric pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry (HPLC-APCI-MS) was successfully applied to seven stereoisomeric diterpenoid alkaloids at position 1 or 12. Comparison of the breakdown curves, observed by changing the potential difference between the first electrode and the second electrode of the APCI ion source, revealed stereochemical dependenc...

BACKGROUND Pythium ultimum is a plant pathogen that causes significant yield losses on many economically important crops. Chemical treatment has been used for disease control. In searching for alternatives, venom piperidine and piperideine alkaloids from red imported fire ants were tested against P. ultimum in vitro, and piperideines were employed to control cucumber damping-off in the greenhou...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative illness associated with dementia and is most prevalent among the elderly population. Current medications can only treat symptoms. Alkaloids are structurally diverse and have been an important source of therapeutics for various brain disorders. Two US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved acetylcholinesterase inhibitors for AD, galantamine an...

Ergoline alkaloids occur in taxonomically unrelated taxa, such as fungi, belonging to the phylum Ascomycetes and higher plants of the family Convolvulaceae. The disjointed occurrence can be explained by the observation that plant-associated epibiotic clavicipitalean fungi capable of synthesizing ergoline alkaloids colonize the adaxial leaf surface of certain Convolvulaceae plant species. The fu...

Hairy root cultures of Brugmansia suaveolens were set up by infection of root tips with Agrobacterium rhizogenes. The successful transformation was confirmed by analysing rolC and virC genes using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Hairy root cultures were employed to study the formation of tropane alkaloids, such as hyoscyamine. The transformed cultures were incubated with potential elicitors, s...

Plants that contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids are widely distributed in the world. Although pyrrolizidine alkaloids have been shown to be genotoxic and tumorigenic in experimental animals, the mechanisms of actions have not been fully understood. The results of our recent mechanistic studies suggest that pyrrolizidine alkaloids induce tumors via a genotoxic mechanism mediated by 6,7-dihydro-7-hyd...