BLACK Natural Product Radiance 218 Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Hindi ⎯ Kamal) is a perennial aquatic crop, grown and consumed throughout Asia. Its parts have been used for various medicinal purposes in oriental medicine. In particular, the leaves are known for diuretic and astringent properties, and are used to treat fever, sweating, and strangury and as a styptic. Kashiwada and others during the...

BACKGROUND As part of a study aimed at developing new pharmaceutical products from natural resources, the purpose of this research was twofold: (1) to fractionate crude extracts from the bark of Mahonia aquifolium and (2) to evaluate the strength of the antimutagenic activity of the separate components against one of the common direct-acting chemical mutagens. METHODS The antimutagenic potenc...

The use of bifunctional catalysts in organic synthesis finds inspiration in the selectivity of enzymatic catalysis which arises from the specific interactions between basic and acidic amino acid residues and the substrate itself in order to stabilize developing charges in the transition state. Many enzymes act as bifunctional catalysts using amino acid residues at the active site as Lewis acids...

Lipid metabolism modulation is a main focus of metabolic syndrome research, an area in which many natural and synthetic chemicals are constantly being screened for in vitro and in vivo activity. Berberine, a benzylisoquinoline plant alkaloid, has been extensively investigated for its anti-obesity effects and as a potential cholesterol and triglyceride-lowering drug. We screened 11 protoberberin...

Alkaloids comprise one of the largest groups of plant secondary metabolites. Berberine, a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid, is preferentially accumulated in the rhizome of Coptis japonica, a ranunculaceous plant, whereas gene expression for berberine biosynthetic enzymes has been observed specifically in root tissues, which suggests that berberine synthesized in the root is transported to the rhizom...

Background: Papaver bracteatum Lindl. Commonly known as Iranian poppy is an important medicinal plant due to the presence of benzylisoquinoline alkaloids. Objective: To evaluate the hairy root culture as a novel method for thebaine production. Methods: To optimize the hairy root culture of P. bracteatum, five strains of Agrobacterium rhizogenes (ATCC15834, C318, A13, 9453 and A4) were used by...

K-601 is an herbal formulation for influenza consisting of Lonicera japonica, Isatis indigotica, Rheum palmatum, Phellodendron chinense, and Scutellaria baicalensis. In this work, we characterized the chemical constituents in K-601, identified the absorbed compounds and determined their pharmacokinetics in 6 Chinese and African volunteers by liquid chromatography with time-of-flight mass spectr...

Many drugs and drug precursors found in natural organisms are rather difficult to synthesize chemically and to extract in large amounts. Metabolic engineering is playing an increasingly important role in the production of these drugs and drug precursors. This is typically achieved by establishing new metabolic pathways leading to the product formation, and enforcing or removing the existing met...

The enzyme NCS [(S)-norcoclaurine synthase; EC 4.2.1.78] found in the common meadow rue, Thalictrum flavum, and other plant species, is involved in the biosynthesis of BIAs (benzylisoquinoline alkaloids). This group of plant secondary metabolites comprises pharmacologically-active compounds such as morphine and codeine. NCS catalyses the condensation of 4-HPAA (4-hydroxyphenylacetaldehyde) and ...