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Chemical studies on monoterpenoid indole alkaloids from medicinal plant resources Gelsemium and Ophiorrhiza

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Abstract

We have proved that the plant of origin of “Yakatsu”, one of the ancient medicines stored in Shosoin Repository, is Gelsemium elegans (Loganiaceae). Exhaustive investigation of the alkaloids in this plant as well as its closely related plant, G. sempervirens, resulted in the isolation of more than 50 compounds, including new gelsedine-, sarpagine-, and yohimbane-type alkaloids. Pharmacological study of representative and new Gelsemium alkaloids revealed that the gelsedine-type alkaloids exhibit potent cytotoxic activity against the A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cell line. It was found that Ophiorrhiza pumila (Rubiaceae) produces a remarkable anti-tumor alkaloid, camptothecin, and its related alkaloids, including new compounds that might be the biogenetic precursors of camptothecin. Chemical investigation of callus cultures, regenerated plants, and hairy roots of O. pumila revealed that the regenerated plants and the hairy roots produce almost the same alkaloids, including camptothecin, as do the wild-type plants.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Professors Norio Aimi and Hiromitsu Takayama, as well as to collaborators in the Laboratory of Molecular Structure and Biological Function of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, for their supervision and collaboration throughout the research. Thanks are also due to Professor Shingo Yano and Dr. Tomonori Nakamura, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, for their assistance in the pharmacological evaluation of Gelsemium alkaloids, and to Professor Kazuki Saito, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, and Professor Joachim Stöckigt, Institute of Pharmacy, Johannes Gutenberg University, for collaboration on the research on cell and tissue cultures of Ophiorrhiza pumila. My sincerest gratitude goes also to Dr. Sumphan Wongseripipatana, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and the Atagawa Tropical and Alligator Garden in Izu, Japan, for providing plant resources. This work was supported by a grant-in-aid for scientific research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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  1. Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage-ku, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan

    Mariko Kitajima

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Kitajima, M. Chemical studies on monoterpenoid indole alkaloids from medicinal plant resources Gelsemium and Ophiorrhiza . J Nat Med 61, 14–23 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-006-0101-z

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