Abstract
Veratrum spp. grow throughout the world and are especially prevalent in high mountain meadows of North America. All parts of Veratrum plants have been used for the treatment of ailments including injuries, hypertension, and rheumatic pain since as far back as the 1600s. Of the 17–45 Veratrum spp., Veratrum californicum alkaloids have been proven to possess favorable medicinal properties associated with inhibition of hedgehog (Hh) pathway signaling. Aberrant Hh signaling leads to proliferation of over 20 cancers, including basal cell carcinoma, prostate and colon among others. Six of the most well-studied V. californicum alkaloids are cyclopamine (1), veratramine (2), isorubijervine (3), muldamine (4), cycloposine (5), and veratrosine (6). Recent inspection of the ethanolic extract from V. californicum root and rhizome via liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry has detected up to five additional alkaloids that are proposed to be verazine (7), etioline (8), tetrahydrojervine (9), dihydrojervine (10), 22-keto-26-aminocholesterol (11). For each alkaloid identified or proposed in V. californicum, this review surveys literature precedents for extraction methods, isolation, identification, characterization and bioactivity to guide natural product drug discovery associated with this medicinal plant.
Highlights
The genus Veratrum consists of 17–45 spp., most of which naturally occur in Asia, and all of them located exclusively in the Northern hemisphere
The Veratrum spp. that will be discussed in this review are V. lobelianum, V. grandiflorum, V. oxysepalum, V. maackii, V. nigrum, V. taliense, V. viride, V. eschscholtzii and V. californicum (Table 1)
The results demonstrated that the combination of alkaloids did have an inhibitory effect on Hh signaling [73]
Summary
The genus Veratrum consists of 17–45 spp., most of which naturally occur in Asia, and all of them located exclusively in the Northern hemisphere. The Veratrum spp. that will be discussed in this review are V. lobelianum, V. grandiflorum, V. oxysepalum, V. maackii, V. nigrum, V. taliense, V. viride, V. eschscholtzii and V. californicum (Table 1). V. album is a species complex of three subspecies, V. lobelianum, V. grandiflorum, and V. oxysepalum, sharing the common name white false hellebore [1] This species is prevalent in northern Eurasia and to a lesser extent may be encountered in localized outcrops in North America, in northern Alaska [1,2]. V. oxysepalum is the most common member of the V. album complex to be mistaken for an edible plant; when consumed, it induces poisoning due to the presence and abundance of toxic alkaloids. V. nigrum, commonly referred to as black false hellebore, is another plant that grows in Europe and Asia This particular species of Veratrum has been used in both Chinese and Korean medicine. Verazine (7) Etioline (8) Tetrahydrojervine (9) Dihydrojervine (10) 22-keto-26-aminocholesterol (11)
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