Alkaloids - natural cardioactive substances

Choroby kardiologiczne należą do najbardziej rozpowszechnionych schorzeń. Poznanie i opisanie jak największej liczby substancji modyfikujących oraz normalizujących aktywność serca, stanowi zatem podstawę rozwoju wiedzy dotyczącej profilaktyki i leczenia chorób serca. Do substancji takich należą alkaloidy. Wykazują one szerokie spektrum aktywności fizjologicznej. Prowadzone do tej pory badania pozwoliły scharakteryzować ponad 10 000 różnych rodzajów surowców zawierających alkaloidy, z których ponad sto znalazło zastosowanie w farmacji jako substancje przeciwbólowe, pobudzające, rozluźniające, analeptyczne, czy wreszcie wpływające na pracę serca. W artykule przedstawiono najważniejsze z medycznego punktu widzenia alkaloidy oraz ich działanie na organizm człowieka. Przedstawiono także wynik badań nad działaniem wybranych alkaloidów i ich mieszanin na miokardium owada, jako modelu w badaniach nad farmakologicznym działaniem testowanych substancji.Cardiovascular diseases belong to the most common ones in humans.Therefore, broad knowledge of substances able to modify and standardize activity of the heart, both of the natural and synthetic origin, provides the basis for the development of prophylaxis and treatment of cardiac ailments. In this regard, alkaloids seem to be of a great importance, as they exhibit a wide range of physiological activity. Investigations carried out until now, have led to identification of over 10 000 different types of materials containing alkaloids, of which more than one hundred were used in pharmacy as analgetics, stimulants, relaxants, analeptics and influencing heart activity. The paper describes the most important alkaloids from the medical point of view and their effects on the human body. Also results of experimental studies on the effects exerted by selected alkaloids and mixtures thereof on the insect's myocardium are presented, as a model in studies on the pharmacological effects of the tested substances

Differentiated Effects of Secondary Metabolites from <i>Solanaceae</i> and <i>Brassicaceae</i> Plant Families on the Heartbeat of <i>Tenebrio molitor</i> Pupae

The usage of insects as model organisms is becoming more and more common in toxicological, pharmacological, genetic and biomedical research. Insects, such as fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster), locusts (Locusta migratoria), stick insects (Baculum extradentatum) or beetles (Tenebrio molitor) are used to assess the effect of different active compounds, as well as to analyse the background and course of certain diseases, including heart disorders. The goal of this study was to assess the influence of secondary metabolites extracted from Solanaceae and Brassicaceae plants: Potato (Solanum tuberosum), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), black nightshade (Solanum nigrum) and horseradish (Armoracia rusticana), on T. molitor beetle heart contractility in comparison with pure alkaloids. During the in vivo bioassays, the plants glycoalkaloid extracts and pure substances were injected at the concentration 10&#8722;5 M into T. molitor pupa and evoked changes in heart activity. Pure glycoalkaloids caused mainly positive chronotropic effects, dependant on heart activity phase during a 24-h period of recording. Moreover, the substances affected the duration of the heart activity phases. Similarly, to the pure glycoalkaloids, the tested extracts also mainly accelerated the heart rhythm, however S. tuberosum and S. lycopersicum extracts slightly decreased the heart contractions frequency in the last 6 h of the recording. Cardioacceleratory activity of only S. lycopersicum extract was higher than single alkaloids whereas S. tubersoum and S. nigrum extracts were less active when compared to pure alkaloids. The most cardioactive substance was chaconine which strongly stimulated heart action during the whole recording after injection. A. rusticana extract which is composed mainly of glucosinolates did not significantly affect the heart contractions. Obtained results showed that glycoalkaloids were much more active than glucosinolates. However, the extracts depending on the plant species might be more or less active than pure substances