Muscle relaxants are an irreplaceable item within the modern surgical toolkit. Their almost universal use during surgical procedures of medium-to-long duration means that it is essential that all anesthesiologists must have a comprehensive knowledge of their history and the future prospects for their continued evolution. There are a number of naturally- occurring acetylcholinesterase and butrylcholinesterase inhibitors, including the solanaceous glycoalkaloids (SGAs), which are found in the plants of the family Solanaceae. In the Pharmacopiea of the Philippines indigenous plants, one such plants is Cestrum nocturnum (Dama de Noche). Objective: This experimental animal study was therefore undertaken to determine the neuromuscular effect of the intravenous administered Cestrun nocturnum in an anesthesixed cat. Methods: An N-of-1 A-B-A design in in vivo study was undertaken compairing the effect of the Cestrun Nocturnum ansd atracurium on the neuromuscular junction of an anesthesized cat. Results: Intravenously administered cestrum nocturnum produced an incomplete (40% TOF) but sustained depolarization of the neuromuscular junction that took an hour to fully recover. It also prolonged the onset of atracurium- induced paralysis and delayed its recovey in the pesence of neostigmine. Conclusion: In the light of these findings, we infer that cestrum nocturnum interact with atracurium and neostigmne possibly through pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic mechanisms. Further studies are recommended to elucidate these mechanisms.
Animal ; ACETYLCHOLINESTERASE ; SOLANACEAE ; NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION

The Solanaceae plants distributed in China belong to 105 species and 35 varietas of 24 genera. Some medicinal plants of Solanaceae are rich in tropane alkaloids(TAs), which have significant pharmacological activities. In this paper, the geographical distribution, chemical components, traditional therapeutic effect, pharmacological activities, and biosynthetic pathways of TAs in Solanaceous plants were summarized. Besides, the phylogeny of medicinal plants belonging to Solanaceae was visualized by network diagram. Fourteen genera of Solanaceae plants in China contain TAs and have medical records. TAs mainly exist in Datura, Anisodus, Atropa, Physochlaina, and Hyoscyamus. The TAs-containing species were mainly concentrated in Southwest China, and the content of TAs was closely related to plant distribution area and altitude. The Solanaceae plants containing TAs mainly have antispasmodic, analgesic, antiasthmatic, and antitussive effects. Modern pharmacological studies have proved the central sedative, pupil dilating, glandular secretion-inhibiting, and anti-asthma activities of TAs. These pharmacological activities provide a reasonable explanation for the traditional therapeutic efficacy of tropane drugs. In this paper, the geographical distribution, chemical components, traditional therapeutic effect, and modern pharmacological activities of TAs-containing species in Solanaceae were analyzed for the first time. Based on these data, the genetic relationship of TAs-containing Solanaceae species was preliminarily discussed, which provided a scientific basis for the basic research on TAs-containing solanaceous species and was of great significance for the development of natural medicinal plant resources containing TAs.
Biosynthetic Pathways ; Phylogeny ; Plants, Medicinal ; Solanaceae/genetics* ; Tropanes

Acute interstitial nephritis (AIN) is an important cause of reversible acute kidney injury and pathologically characterized by inflammatory infiltrate in the renal interstitium. Solanum nigrum (S. nigrum) is a medicinal plant member of the Solanaceae family. Although S. nigrum has been traditionally used to treat various ailments such as pain, inflammation, and fever, it has also been reported to have a toxic effect, resulting in anticholinergic symptoms. However, there have been no reports of AIN caused by S. nigrum. Here, we report the first case of biopsy-confirmed AIN after ingestion of S. nigrum. The patient was successfully treated using corticosteroid therapy.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Eating ; Fever ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Nephritis, Interstitial* ; Plants, Medicinal ; Solanaceae ; Solanum nigrum* ; Solanum*

Irritant dermatitis is the most frequent type of plant-related dermatitis. Plant families most commonly associated with irritation are Ranunculaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Cruciferae, Brassicaceae, Urticaceae, and Solanaceae. We report a case of irritant contact dermatitis caused by Ranunculus japonicus for the treatment of arthralgia in a 78 year old female.
Aged ; Arthralgia ; Brassicaceae ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Dermatitis, Irritant* ; Euphorbiaceae ; Female ; Humans ; Plants ; Ranunculaceae ; Ranunculus* ; Solanaceae ; Urticaceae

A quantitative HPLC-DAD method was developed for simultaneous determination of N-trans-p-coumaroyloctopamine and N-trans-p-coumaroyltyramine in Solani Melongenae Radix from different cultivation regions in China The separation was performed on an Agilent Eclipse XDB C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) at 30 degrees C with a gradient elution of methanol and 0.1% formic acid in water as mobile phase. The flow rate was set at 1.0 mL x min(-1) and the detection wavelength was 300 nm. The calibration curves of N-trans-p-coumaroyloctopamine and N-trans-p-coumaroyltyramine were linear over the ranges of 2.84-68.16, 3.10-74.40 mg x L(-1), and the average recoveries (n = 9) were 99.30% and 102.8%, respectively. The developed method was successfully applied for the analysis of sixteen samples from different cultivation regions in China, which indicated that the method is simple, rapid, accurate, and reliable for quality evaluation of Solani Melongenae Radix.
Amides ; analysis ; China ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; methods ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Solanaceae ; chemistry ; classification

Ten known phenolic compounds including [4]-gingerol (1), [6]-gingerol (2), [10]-gingerol (3), (3S,5S)-3,5-dihydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) decane (4), (3R,5S) -3, 5-dihydroxy-1-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) decane (5), [6]-shogaol (6), [10]-shogaol (7), gingerenone A (8), hexahydrocurcumin (9), and (3R,5R)-3,5-dihydroxy-1,7-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl) heptane (10), and seven amides including piperine (11), isochavicine (12), isopiperine (13), N-trans-p-coumaroyl tyramine (14), N-trans-feruloyl tyramine (15), N-trans-p-coumaroyl octopamine (16), N-trans-feruloyl octopamine (17), were isolated and identified from the roots of Lycianthes marlipoensis. Compounds 1-13 and 17 were isolated from the genus Lycianthes for the first time.
Amides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Chromatography ; methods ; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; methods ; Phenols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Solanaceae ; chemistry ; metabolism

Transgenic Atropa belladonna with high levels of scopolamine was developed by metabolic engineering. A functional gene involved in the rate limiting enzyme of h6h involved in the biosynthetic pathway of scopolamine was over expressed in A. belladonna via Agrobacterium-mediation. The transgenic plants were culturing till fruiting through micropropogating and acclimating. The integration of the h6h genes into the genomic DNA of transgenic plants were confirmed by genomic polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Analysis of the difference of plant height, crown width, stem diameter, leaf length, leaf width, branch number and fresh weight was carried out using SPSS software. The content of hyoscyamine and scopolamine in roots, stems, leaves and fruits was determined by HPLC. The investigation of the expression levels of Hnh6h by qPCR. Both Kan(r) and Hnh6h genes were detected in five transgenic lines of A. belladonna plants (A8, A11, A12, C8 and C19), but were not detected in the controls. The plant height, crown width, stem diameter, leaf length, leaf width, branch number and fresh weight of transgenic plants did not decrease by comparison with the non-transgenic ones, and furthermore some agronomic characters of transgenic plants were better than those of the controls. The highest level of scopolamine was found in leaves of transgenic A. belladonna, and the content of scopolamine was also higher than that of hyoscyamine in leaves. The contents of scopolamine of leaves in different transgenic lines were listed in order: C8 > A12 > C19 > A11 > A8, especially, the content of scopolamine in transgenic line C8 was 2.17 mg x g(-1) DW that was 4.2 folds of the non-transgenic ones (0.42 mg x g(-1) DW). The expression of transgenic Hnh6h was detected in all the transgenic plants but not in the control. The highest level of Hnh6h expression was found in transgenic leaves. Overexpression of Hnh6h is able to break the rate limiting steps involved in the downstream pathway of scopolamine biosynthesis, and thus promotes the metabolic flux flowing toward biosynthesis of scopolamine to improve the capacity of scopolamine biosynthesis in transgenic plants. As a result, transgenic plants of A. belladonna with higher level of scopolamine were developed.
Atropa belladonna ; genetics ; metabolism ; Atropine ; metabolism ; Gene Expression ; Mixed Function Oxygenases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; genetics ; metabolism ; Scopolamine Hydrobromide ; metabolism ; Solanaceae ; enzymology ; genetics

AIMTo modify the structure of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).

METHODSUsing hairy root cultures of Anisodus tanguticus to perform biotransformation of DHEA, using chromatographic and spectral techniques to isolate and identify the products.

RESULTS(1) The MS medium without plant hormone was suitable for the growth of the hairy root. (2) DHEA was converted into five products: androst-4-ene-3, 17-dione (I); 6alpha-hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3, 17-dione (II); 6alpha, 17beta-dihydroxyandrost-4-ene-3-one (III); androst-4-ene-3, 6, 17-trione (IV) and 17beta-hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3-one (V).

CONCLUSIONIt is the first time to use hairy root cultures of Anisodus tanguticus for the biotransformation of DHEA and five DHEA-related compounds were obtained.

Androstenedione ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Androstenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Biotransformation ; Culture Media ; Dehydroepiandrosterone ; chemistry ; metabolism ; Molecular Structure ; Plant Roots ; metabolism ; Plants, Medicinal ; metabolism ; Solanaceae ; metabolism ; Tissue Culture Techniques

AIMTo identify anisodine and its metabolites in rat plasma after ingestion of anisodine by combining liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS(n)).

METHODSPlasma samples from rats after a single orally administration of 20 mg anisodine were added with methanol to precipitate protein. Then, it was analyzed by LC-MS(n). Identification and structural elucidation of the metabolites were performed by comparing their changes in molecular masses, retention-times and full scan MS(n) spectra with those of the parent drug and blank plasma.

RESULTSThe results revealed that the parent drug and its four metabolites (norscopine, scopine, hydroxyanisodine, N-oxide anisodine) existed in rat plasma.

CONCLUSIONThis method is sensitive, rapid, simple, and it is suitable for the rapid identification of drug and its metabolits.

Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Chromatography, Liquid ; methods ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Scopolamine Derivatives ; isolation & purification ; metabolism ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Solanaceae ; chemistry ; Tandem Mass Spectrometry ; methods

OBJECTIVE: To separate and determine scopolamine from the food in a poisoning case by GC/MS. METHODS: The scopolamine was determined by GC/MS/El used CP5860(CP-sil8CB) column (30 mx 0.25 mmx 0.33 microm) with liquid- liquid extraction. RESULTS: The deny scopolamine was found in the case sample, and the chromatographic separation of the peaks is fine. CONCLUSION The method is accurate and reliable.
Foodborne Diseases/etiology* ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/methods* ; Hallucinations/diagnosis* ; Humans ; Male ; Psychoses, Substance-Induced/etiology* ; Scopolamine/poisoning* ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Solanaceae/chemistry* ; Solvents/chemistry*