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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2025-06-01
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| author | G. David Lin Pinky Vishwakarma Paul N. Smith Rachel W. Li |
| author_facet | G. David Lin Pinky Vishwakarma Paul N. Smith Rachel W. Li |
| author_sort | G. David Lin |
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| description | 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. |
| format | Article |
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| spelling | doaj-art-4c60eeb6ed574fe9864d0e0c338d547d2025-08-20T02:36:34ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472025-06-011413193510.3390/plants14131935The Occurrence and Bioactivities of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> Alkaloids from Plants: A Taxonomy-Guided Genera-Wide ReviewG. David Lin0Pinky Vishwakarma1Paul N. Smith2Rachel W. Li3Research School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Acton 2601, AustraliaResearch School of Chemistry, The Australian National University, Acton 2601, AustraliaSchool of Medicine and Psychology, The Australian National University, Acton 2601, AustraliaSchool of Medicine and Psychology, The Australian National University, Acton 2601, AustraliaThe 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.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/13/1935<i>Amaryllidaceae</i>alkaloidsoccurrencegalanthamineanti-Alzheimer’santi-acetylcholinesterase |
| spellingShingle | G. David Lin Pinky Vishwakarma Paul N. Smith Rachel W. Li The Occurrence and Bioactivities of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> Alkaloids from Plants: A Taxonomy-Guided Genera-Wide Review Plants <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids occurrence galanthamine anti-Alzheimer’s anti-acetylcholinesterase |
| title | The Occurrence and Bioactivities of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> Alkaloids from Plants: A Taxonomy-Guided Genera-Wide Review |
| title_full | The Occurrence and Bioactivities of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> Alkaloids from Plants: A Taxonomy-Guided Genera-Wide Review |
| title_fullStr | The Occurrence and Bioactivities of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> Alkaloids from Plants: A Taxonomy-Guided Genera-Wide Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Occurrence and Bioactivities of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> Alkaloids from Plants: A Taxonomy-Guided Genera-Wide Review |
| title_short | The Occurrence and Bioactivities of <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> Alkaloids from Plants: A Taxonomy-Guided Genera-Wide Review |
| title_sort | occurrence and bioactivities of i amaryllidaceae i alkaloids from plants a taxonomy guided genera wide review |
| topic | <i>Amaryllidaceae</i> alkaloids occurrence galanthamine anti-Alzheimer’s anti-acetylcholinesterase |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/13/1935 |
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