Abstract
Berberine and Sanguinarine alkaloids belong to a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral or weakly acidic properties. Alkaloids are produced by a large number of organisms including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. Berberine and Sanguinarine both are isoquinoline derivatives and belong to protoberberine and benzophenanthridines, respectively. Tyrosine or phenylalanine is common precursor for the biosynthesis of both. Sanguinarine [13-methyl (1,3) benzodioxolo(5,6-c)-1,3-dioxolo (4,5) phenanthridinium] is a toxin that kills animal cells through its action on the Na+-K+-ATPase transmembrane protein. Berberine, on the other hand, has been reported to cause cytotoxicity and adversely influence the synthesis of DNA. Several workers have reported varied pharmacological properties of these alkaloids as they exhibit antibacterial, antiasthma, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic activities. This review article illustrates the toxicological effects of berberine and sanguinarine as well as mechanistic part of berberine and sanguinarine mediated toxicity in different living systems. This manuscript has included the lethal doses (LD50) of berberine and sanguinarine in different animals via different routs of exposure. Also, the effects of these alkaloids on the activities of some key enzymes, cell lines and organ development etc. have been summarized.
Highlights
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms (Figure 1)
Another study has revealed that in diabetic rats after 16 weeks of berberine administration at concentrations >50, 100, and 150 mg/kg induces liver tissue damages but these symptoms do not appear in healthy rats (Zhou et al, 2008)
IC50 value of 0.9 μM of sanguinarine decreased the cell viability in human gingival fibroblasts (Malikova et al, 2006a) determined by using the [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] MTT assay after 4 h of exposure (Vrba et al, 2009)
Summary
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms (Figure 1). On orally administration of root extract fraction of B. vulgaris, the LD50 values are 1,280 and 520 mg/kg in rat and mice, respectively (Table 1). Administration of 50 mg/kg of Berberine sulfate causes diarrhea in 40 % of rats which directly effects the gastrointestinal track (Kulkarni et al, 1972).
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