BACKGROUND Zanthoxylum buesgenii is a shrub used in Sierra Leone as remedy to cure venereal diseases, arthritis, and rheumatism whereas leaves and barks are employed to treat leprosy and to relieve pain. In South West Region of Cameroon, the plant locally called "Mbem" by Lewoh-Lebang community, is orally given to patients as aphrodisiac decoction and to increase sperm count. Previous chemical ...

The title compounds are a class of structurally simple analogues of quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids (QBAs). In order to develop novel QBA-like antifungal drugs, in this study, 24 of the title compounds with various substituents on the N-phenyl ring were evaluated for bioactivity against seven phytopathogenic fungi using the mycelial growth rate method and their SAR discussed. Almost...

Fractionation of the cyclohexane extract from the stem bark powder of Zanthoxylum madagascariense led to the isolation of a new benzophenanthridine-type alkaloid, hydrochloride of 2,3-methylendioxy-8-hydroxy- 7-methoxy-benzo[C]phenanthridine (Rutaceline), characterized on the basis of its spectral data. Rutaceline was evaluated for its antiproliferative capacity on the human colorectal adenocar...

Effects of four benzoquinoline isomers on the filtration rate of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) were analyzed, to study the effect of minor differences in chemical structure on adverse biological effects. Filtration rates were measured after 48 h of exposure to different concentrations of acridine, phenanthridine, benzo[f]quinoline, and benzo[h]quinoline in the water. The 50% effective...

Macleaya microcarpa (Maxim.) Fedde belongs to the genus Macleaya, family Papaveraceae. Together with the better known and more frequently studied species M. cordata (Willd.) R. Br. it is a main source of quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids. Using HPLC we determined the content of eight isoquinoline alkaloids in the aerial and underground parts of 1-, 2-, 12- and 13-year old plants and f...

The subchronic safety of sanguiritrin, a mixture of sanguinarine (SA) and chelerythrine (CHE) quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids (QBA), obtained from Macleaya cordata was assessed. Rats were fed a diet containing 120 ppm sanguiritrin (100 ppm QBA) for 109 days. The feed consumption and the animal weight were monitored. The content of QBA in selected tissues and plasma was determined us...

Sanguinarine (1) and chelerythrine (2) are two quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids (QBAs). Eighteen derivatives of 1 and 2 were synthesized by modification of C=N(+) bond and evaluated for their in vitro acaricidal activity against Psoroptes cuniculi, a mange mite. A new method was developed to prepare 6-alkoxy dihydro derivatives of 1 and 2 (1a-e, 2a-e). Among all the compounds, only 6...

Introduction: Multidrug resistance remains a major obstacle hindering successful antimalarial chemotherapy. In the current study, 50% methanol in dichloromethane extract and six compounds from the stem bark of Zanthoxylum gilletii were explored for their antiplasmodial potential against three strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Materials and Methods: The extract was obtained by cold percolation u...

Ethoxidine, a benzo[c]phenanthridine derivative, has been identified as a potent inhibitor of topoisomerase I in cancer cell lines. Our group has reported paradoxical properties of ethoxidine in cellular processes leading to angiogenesis on endothelial cells. Because low concentration ethoxidine is able to favor angiogenesis, the present study aimed to investigate the ability of 10-9 M ethoxidi...

Previous studies have demonstrated that the benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloid chelerythrine chloride (CC) has inhibitory effects on various tumors. However, the anticancer activity of CC and its underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated in renal cancer cells. The present study examined the effects of CC on growth inhibition and apoptosis of renal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Flow cytom...