Canadian Medical Guide > Chemicals and Drugs > Heterocyclic Compounds > Alkaloids Terms and Definitions




Alkaloids

Medical Definition: Organic nitrogenous bases. Many alkaloids of medical importance occur in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, and some have been synthesized. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)
Guide Notes: GEN or unspecified; prefer specific groups or specific alkaloid; alkaloids from specific plants go here (IM) + name of plant or PLANTS, MEDICINAL, etc.
Alkaloids Categories.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Aconite
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Aconitine - A alkaloid from the root of Aconitum napellus L. and other aconites. Activates voltage-gated Na+ channels. Has been used to induce arrhythmia in experimental animals. Shows antiinflammatory and antineuralgic properties.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Acronine - A pyrano-acridone alkaloid found in RUTACEAE plants.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Aporphines - Dibenzoquinolines derived in plants from (S)-reticuline (BENZYLISOQUINOLINES).
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Berberine Alkaloids - A group of related plant alkaloids that contain the BERBERINE heterocyclic ring structure.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Bicuculline - Isoquinoline alkaloid from Dicentra cucullaria and other plants that is a competitive antagonist at GABA-A receptors and thus causes convulsions.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Camptothecin - An alkaloid isolated from the stem wood of the Chinese tree, Camptotheca acuminata. This compound selectively inhibits the nuclear enzyme DNA TOPOISOMERASES, TYPE I. Several semisynthetic analogs of camptothecin have demonstrated antitumor activity.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Cinchona Alkaloids - Alkaloids extracted from various species of Cinchona.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Colchicine - A major alkaloid from Colchicum autumnale L. and found also in other Colchicum species. Its primary therapeutic use is in the treatment of gout, but it has been used also in the therapy of familial Mediterranean fever (PERIODIC DISEASE).
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Dihydro-beta-Erythroidine - Dihydro analog of beta-erythroidine, which is isolated from the seeds and other plant parts of Erythrina sp. Leguminosae. It is an alkaloid with curarimimetic properties.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Ellipticines - Pyrido-CARBAZOLES originally discovered in the bark of OCHROSIA ELLIPTICA. They inhibit DNA and RNA synthesis and have immunosuppressive properties.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Emetine - The principal alkaloid of ipecac, from the ground roots of Uragoga (or Cephaelis) ipecacuanha or U. acuminata, of the Rubiaceae. It is used as an amebicide in many different preparations and may cause serious cardiac, hepatic, or renal damage and violent diarrhea and vomiting. Emetine inhibits protein syntheis in eucaryotic but not prokaryotic cells.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Ergot Alkaloids - Alkaloids originally isolated from the ergot fungus Claviceps purpurea (Hypocreaceae). They include compounds that are structurally related to ergoline (ERGOLINES) and ERGOTAMINE (ERGOTAMINES). Many of the ergot alkaloids act as alpha-adrenergic antagonists.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Galantamine - A benzazepine from the plant, GALANTHUS. It is a cholinesterase inhibitor that has been used to reverse the muscular effects of GALLAMINE TRIETHIODIDE and TUBOCURARINE and has been studied as a treatment for ALZHEIMER DISEASE and other central nervous system disorders.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Harmaline - A beta-carboline alkaloid isolated from seeds of PEGANUM.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Harmine - Alkaloid isolated from seeds of Peganum harmala L., Zygophyllaceae. It is identical to banisterine, or telepathine, from Banisteria caapi and is one of the active ingredients of hallucinogenic drinks made in the western Amazon region from related plants. It has no therapeutic use, but (as banisterine) was hailed as a cure for postencephalitic Parkinson disease in the 1920's.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Harringtonines - Tetracyclic spiro-BENZAZEPINES isolated from the seeds of CEPHALOTAXUS. They are esters of the alkaloid cephalotaxine and may be effective as antineoplastic agents.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Ibogaine - One of several indole alkaloids extracted from Tabernanthe iboga, Baill. It has a complex pharmacological profile, and interacts with multiple systems of neurotransmission. Ibogaine has psychoactive properties and appears to modulate tolerance to opiates.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Indole Alkaloids - Group of alkaloids containing a benzylpyrrole group (derived from TRYPTOPHAN)
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Lobeline - An alkaloid that has actions similar to NICOTINE on nicotinic cholinergic receptors but is less potent. It has been proposed for a variety of therapeutic uses including in respiratory disorders, peripheral vascular disorders, insomnia, and smoking cessation.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Opium - The air-dried exudate from the unripe seed capsule of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, or its variant, P. album. It contains a number of alkaloids, but only a few - MORPHINE; CODEINE; and PAPAVERINE - have clinical significance. Opium has been used as an analgesic, antitussive, antidiarrheal, and antispasmodic.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Pilocarpine - A slowly hydrolyzed muscarinic agonist with no nicotinic effects. Pilocarpine is used as a miotic and in the treatment of glaucoma.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids - A group of ALKALOIDS, characterized by a nitrogen-containing necine, occurring mainly in plants of the BORAGINACEAE; COMPOSITAE; and LEGUMINOSAE plant families. They can be activated in the liver by hydrolysis of the ester and desaturation of the necine base to reactive electrophilic pyrrolic CYTOTOXINS.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Ryanodine - Insecticidal alkaloid isolated from Ryania speciosa; proposed as a myocardial depressant.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Salsoline Alkaloids - Tetrahydroisoquinolinol alkaloids in both dextro and levo forms, originally from Salsola richteri; may be hypotensive due to inhibition of certain brain enzymes; may be formed de novo in brain from dopamine during alcoholism.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Solanaceous Alkaloids - Alkaloids, mainly tropanes, elaborated by plants of the family Solanaceae, including Atropa, Hyoscyamus, Mandragora, Nicotiana, Solanum, etc. Some act as cholinergic antagonists; most are very toxic; many are used medicinally.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Sparteine - A quinolizidine alkaloid isolated from several FABACEAE including LUPINUS; SPARTIUM; and CYTISUS. It has been used as an oxytocic and an anti-arrhythmia agent. It has also been of interest as an indicator of CYP2D6 genotype.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Strychnine - An alkaloid found in the seeds of STRYCHNOS NUX-VOMICA. It is a competitive antagonist at glycine receptors and thus a convulsant. It has been used as an analeptic, in the treatment of nonketotic hyperglycinemia and sleep apnea, and as a rat poison.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Swainsonine - An indolizidine alkaloid from the plant Swainsona canescens that is a potent alpha-mannosidase inhibitor. Swainsonine also exhibits antimetastatic, antiproliferative, and immunomodulatory activity.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Tropanes
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Veratrum Alkaloids - Alkaloids with powerful hypotensive effects isolated from American or European Hellebore (Veratrum viride Ait. Liliaceae and Veratrum album L. Liliaceae). They increase cholinergic and decrease adrenergic tone with appropriate side effects and at higher doses depress respiration and produce cardiac arrhythmias; only the ester alkaloids have been used as hypotensive agents in specific instances. They have been generally replaced by drugs with fewer adverse effects.
Canadian Medical Guide Definition Yohimbans

Alkaloids Medical Definitions and Terms

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