Abstract
Sanguinaria canadensis, also known as bloodroot, is a traditional medicine used by Native Americans to treat a diverse range of clinical conditions. The plants rhizome contains several alkaloids that individually target multiple molecular processes. These bioactive compounds, mechanistically correlate with the plant’s history of ethnobotanical use. Despite their identification over 50 years ago, the alkaloids of S. canadensis have not been developed into successful therapeutic agents. Instead, they have been associated with clinical toxicities ranging from mouthwash induced leukoplakia to cancer salve necrosis and treatment failure. This review explores the historical use of S. canadensis, the molecular actions of the benzophenanthridine and protopin alkaloids it contains, and explores natural alkaloid variation as a possible rationale for the inconsistent efficacy and toxicities encountered by S. canadensis therapies. Current veterinary and medicinal uses of the plant are studied with an assessment of obstacles to the pharmaceutical development of S. canadensis alkaloid based therapeutics.
Highlights
A number of pharmaceutical compounds have been developed from natural products used as traditional medicines [1]
S. canadensis is a traditional medicine with a variety of ethnopharmacological uses
S. canadensis contains a number of bioactive alkaloids that have a range of molecular effects
Summary
A number of pharmaceutical compounds have been developed from natural products used as traditional medicines [1]. The rhizome of the plant, known as bloodroot because of its red latex, contains a number of biologically active alkaloids that have been investigated as potential drug candidates [3]. Despite their elucidation over 50 years ago [4], and significant activity in a range of molecular pathways, the individual alkaloids of S. canadensis are yet to find utility as proven human therapeutics [5,6]. Chelirubine and chelilutine were first isolated from Chelidonium majus constituting 0.013% and 0.002% of its alkaloids (Slavik, 1954) They have been obtained from a number of Papaveraceae species with S. canadensis rhizomes, to date, having the highest content of these minor QBAs at 0.074% and 0.229% respectively [4,88]. An understanding of the molecular effects of S. canadensis and its bioactive molecules is necessary to fully assess its therapeutic potential and toxicity
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