The Occurrence and Bioactivities of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> Alkaloids from Plants: A Taxonomy-Guided Genera-Wide Review
The distribution of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids, with a focus on their chemodiversity, has been reported previously, but not at a genera-wide diversity level. This review provides a comprehensive survey of the occurrence of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids across the gener...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Plants |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/13/1935 |
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| Summary: | The distribution of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids, with a focus on their chemodiversity, has been reported previously, but not at a genera-wide diversity level. This review provides a comprehensive survey of the occurrence of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids across the genera of the <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> family. This survey is taxonomically guided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Taxonomy Browser, with targeted keyword searches conducted in the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) SciFinder-n and PubMed. The family <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> comprises over 1214 species across three subfamilies: <i>Agapanthoideae</i> (1 genus, 5 species), <i>Allioideae</i> (3 genera plus 11 subgenera, 617 species), and <i>Amaryllidoideae</i> (58 genera plus 13 subgenera, 592 species). <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids have been identified exclusively in 36 of the 58 genera and 6 of the 13 subgenera within the <i>Amaryllidoideae</i> subfamily. To date, more than 600 <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids have been isolated, predominantly from this subfamily—hence the designation “<i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids”. These alkaloids display a wide spectrum of biological activities, including acetylcholinesterase inhibition, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, and anticancer effects. A notable example is galanthamine (also known as galantamine), an FDA-approved drug marketed under the brand names Reminyl™ (Janssen Research Foundation, Beerse, Belgium, 2001) and Razadyne™ (Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research, New Brunswick, NJ, USA, 2004) for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, due to its potent acetylcholinesterase-inhibitory activity. Galanthamine has been isolated from species belonging to the genera <i>Cyrtanthus</i>, <i>Galanthus</i>, <i>Leucojum</i>, <i>Lycoris</i>, <i>Narcissus</i>, <i>Ungernia</i>, <i>Chlidanthus</i>, <i>Crinum</i>, <i>Eucharis</i>, <i>Eustephia</i>, <i>Pancratium</i>, and <i>Phaedranassa</i>. Lycorine is another widely distributed alkaloid found across multiple genera, and it has been extensively studied for its diverse bioactivities. Given the remarkable chemical diversity and bioactivity of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids, along with the many underexplored genera and species, further research into <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> species and their alkaloids is strongly warranted to support the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents. |
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| ISSN: | 2223-7747 |