Erythravine is a

tetrahydroisoquinoline Tetrahydroisoquinoline (TIQ or THIQ) is an organic compound with the chemical formula C9H11N. Classified as a secondary amine, it is derived from isoquinoline by hydrogenation. It is a colorless viscous liquid that is miscible with most organic ...

alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of basic BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Th ...

found in the plant ''

Erythrina mulungu ''Erythrina mulungu'' (Mulungu) is a Brazilian ornamental tree and medicinal plant native to the ''cerrado'' and ''caatinga'' ecoregions in Brazil, South America. Description This tree reaches up to 15 meters in height. Seeds The red-oran ...

'' and other species of the genus ''

Erythrina ''Erythrina'' is a genus of plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 130 species, which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. They are trees, with the larger species growing up to in height. The generic ...

.''

Biological activity

Some laboratory research has investigated the

biological activity In pharmacology, biological activity or pharmacological activity describes the beneficial or adverse effects of a drug on living matter. When a drug is a complex chemical mixture, this activity is exerted by the substance's active ingredient or ...

of erythravine, but the relevance to effects in humans is unknown.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

It has been shown to be a potent

nicotinic receptor Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or nAChRs, are receptor polypeptides that respond to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Nicotinic receptors also respond to drugs such as the agonist nicotine. They are found in the central and peripheral n ...

antagonist in animal models with an

IC50 The half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) is a measure of the potency of a substance in inhibiting a specific biological or biochemical function. IC50 is a quantitative measure that indicates how much of a particular inhibitory substanc ...

of 6µM at the α7 site and 13 nM for the

α4β2 The alpha-4 beta-2 nicotinic receptor, also known as the α4β2 receptor, is a type of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor implicated in learning, consisting of α4 and β2 subunits. It is located in the brain, where activation yields post- and pre ...

receptor.

Anxiolytic

It appears to have

anxiolytic An anxiolytic (; also antipanic or antianxiety agent) is a medication or other intervention that reduces anxiety. This effect is in contrast to anxiogenic agents which increase anxiety. Anxiolytic medications are used for the treatment of anxie ...

effects in

animal model An animal model (short for animal disease model) is a living, non-human, often genetic-engineered animal used during the research and investigation of human disease, for the purpose of better understanding the disease process without the risk of ha ...

s of anxiety. Further studies suggest that the

effects are only reproducible with the whole extract of

Erythrina Mulungu ''Erythrina mulungu'' (Mulungu) is a Brazilian ornamental tree and medicinal plant native to the ''cerrado'' and ''caatinga'' ecoregions in Brazil, South America. Description This tree reaches up to 15 meters in height. Seeds The red-oran ...

but not with the pure alkaloids.

Anticonvulsant

Erythravine inhibited seizures evoked by

bicuculline Bicuculline is a phthalide-isoquinoline compound that is a light-sensitive competitive antagonist of GABAA receptors. It was originally identified in 1932 in plant alkaloid extracts and has been isolated from '' Dicentra cucullaria'', '' Adlum ...

pentylenetetrazol Pentylenetetrazol, also known as pentylenetetrazole, leptazol, metrazol, pentetrazol (INN), pentamethylenetetrazol, Corazol, Cardiazol, Deumacard, or PTZ, is a drug formerly used as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant. High doses cause convuls ...

e, and

kainic acid Kainic acid, or kainate, is an acid that naturally occurs in some seaweed. Kainic acid is a potent neuroexcitatory amino acid agonist that acts by activating receptors for glutamate, the principal excitatory neurotransmitter in the central ne ...

as well as increasing the latency of seizures induced by

NMDA ''N''-methyl--aspartic acid or ''N''-methyl--aspartate (NMDA) is an amino acid derivative that acts as a specific agonist at the NMDA receptor mimicking the action of glutamate, the neurotransmitter which normally acts at that receptor. Unlike ...

. Treatment with erythravine prevented death in all the animals tested with the four

convulsant A convulsant is a drug which induces convulsions and/or epileptic seizures, the opposite of an anticonvulsant. These drugs generally act as stimulants at low doses, but are not used for this purpose due to the risk of convulsions and consequent exci ...

s except a few of those treated with kainic acid.

References

Norsalsolinol ethers Cyclohexenols Anticonvulsants Nicotinic antagonists Anxiolytics Isoquinoline alkaloids Conjugated dienes {{alkaloid-stub

Biological activity

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

Anxiolytic

Anticonvulsant

See also

References