Seasonal variation in alkaloid composition and antiproliferative activity of Stylophorum lasiocarpum (Oliv.) Fedde

Stylophonarum lasiocarpum (Oliv.) Fedde (Papaveraceae) belorigs to traditional Chinese Tiled e herbs but there was minimal information on the content of alkaloids in this plant. Extracts from the aerial part and roots were examined by liquid chromatography with ITV and mass spectrometric deter to with nineteen alkaloids identified. Changes in alkaloid content over the entire vegetation period of a one and two-year old plant were at udied. The pint oberberine alkaloids, coptisine and stylopine, were found to he the main substances in extracts of the aerial part irrespective of the plant's age and time of harvest. Variable amounts of protopine, sanguinarine, chelerythrine, chi lirubine macarpine, chelilutine and berberine were also recorded in the aerial part. The roots contained significantly larger quantities of all alkaloids than the aerial part with the levels of most alkaloids varying from May to October, peaking in the middle of the Vegetation period. Coptisine was the dominant alkaloid in all samples. The a ntiproliferative at of the root extract and of seven individual alkaloids were tested on A375 human malignant melanoma cells. The significant dose-dependent toxicity of the root extract was attributed largely to the quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids, non ar pine and sanguinarine. (C) 2014 Institute of Chemistry, Slovak Academy of Sciences