title: Antitussive effects of Stemona tuberosa with different chemical profiles.
abstract: The root tubers of Stemona tuberosa, Stemona japonica and Stemona sessilifolia are recognized by the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China as authentic sources of the herb Radix Stemonae (Baibu). Careful anatomical analyses of these three species, whose identities were confirmed by flowering and fruiting samples, revealed that the root tubers of Stemona tuberosa could be distinguished from those of the other two species by the presence of scattered fibers in the cortex and pith and by the absence of thickened striations on the surface of velamen cells. HPLC analyses demonstrated that the total alkaloid profiles could be grouped into four types represented as the major component by stenine-type Stemona alkaloids such as tuberostemonine (4) and neotuberostemonine (3), or by non-stenine types such as croomine (1) and stemoninine (2). Nevertheless, all these samples demonstrated different degrees of antitussive properties in guinea pigs. These results suggested that non-stenine-type of Stemona alkaloids also contributed to the antitussive properties. The variations in chemical profiles among herb samples add difficulty in ensuring quality control in botanical products.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, PR China.
authors.forename: Yan-Tong
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Po-Ming
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Hon
authors.forename: Ren-Wang
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Sheng-Hong
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yiu-Pong
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Hong-Xi
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Pang-Chui
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Paul Pui-Hay
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: But
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D000818:Animals; D000996:Antitussive Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D035264:Flowers / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007783:Lactones / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D015394:Molecular Structure; D008517:Phytotherapy; D028321:Plant Preparations / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D035281:Plant Tubers / Q000737:chemistry; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D013141:Spiro Compounds / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D041901:Stemonaceae / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D000996:Antitussive Agents; D007783:Lactones; D028321:Plant Preparations; D011759:Pyrrolidines; D013141:Spiro Compounds; C468415:neotuberostemonine; C483261:stemonine; C034243:tuberostemonine; C082845:croomine