A New Lycopodine-type Alkaloid from Lycopodium japonicum

The Chemistry and Biology of Lycopodium Alkaloids

Lycopodiales, an order comprising 388 distinct species, is the source of Lycopodium alkaloids (LAs), a group of naturally occurring alkaloids that share a common biosynthesis and structural attributes. These remarkable organisms are considered vestiges of ancient ferns, with fossil evidence dating their existence back to an impressive 300 million years. LAs usually are tricyclic or tetracyclic compounds with C16N or C16N2 skeleton. But then there are also have a few C11N, C15N, C15N2, C22N2, and C27N3 skeleton. LAs have attracted much scientific attention because of their important biological activities related to acetylcholinesterase and unique structural characteristics. From 1881 to December 2023, there are 593 LAs from 49 species of Lycopodiales have been reported. Because the total amount of LAs is nearly five times that of 1994, the classification and group allocation of some newly isolated LAs is often challenging and not unambiguous by Ayer's simple classification. This review makes a more systematic and detailed classification for it and provides extensive coverage of naturally occurring LAs discovered from 1881 to December 2023. Until now, there is no comprehensively summary of biological activity of the LAs. This review is the first time covered the biological activity of the all LAs.

Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by the Yi people in Mile, Yunnan, China

BACKGROUND

The Yi people are a sociolinguistic group living in Mile City, which is their typical settlement in southeastern Yunnan, China. Over the long history of using medicinal plants, the Yi people have accumulated and developed a wealth of traditional medicinal knowledge, which has played a vital role in their health care. However, only a few studies have been performed to systematically document the medicinal plants commonly used by the Yi people. This study provides fundamental data for the development and application of ethnomedicine as well as supports the conservation of the traditional medical knowledge of the Yi people.

METHODS

This study was conducted from May 2020 to August 2022 and involved five townships in Mile. Information regarding medicinal plants was obtained through semistructured interviews, key informant interviews, and participatory observation. The collected voucher specimens were identified using the botanical taxonomy method and deposited in the herbarium. Ethnobotanical data were analyzed using informant consensus factor, relative frequency of citation, and fidelity level.

RESULTS

In total, 114 informants distributed in five townships of Mile were interviewed. The Yi people used 267 medicinal plant species belonging to 232 genera and 104 families to treat various diseases. Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Fabaceae were the most commonly used plant families by the Yi people. In addition, herbs were most commonly used by the Yi people. Whole plants and roots were the preferred medicinal parts. Decoctions were the most common method of herbal medicine preparation. There are 49 different recorded diseases treated by Yi medicinal plants, and among them, respiratory diseases, rheumatism, traumatic injury, fractures, and digestive system diseases have the largest number of species used. A quantitative analysis demonstrated that plants such as Zingiber officinale, Lycopodium japonicum, Aconitum carmichaelii, Panax notoginseng, Cyathula officinalis, and Leonurus japonicus played crucial roles in disease prevention and treatment.

CONCLUSION

Traditional knowledge of medicinal plants is closely associated with the social culture of the local Yi people. The medicinal plants used for health care in the study area were diverse. Local healers were skilled at using medicinal plants to treat various diseases. Their treatment methods were convenient and unique, exhibiting distinctive regional characteristics. However, the inheritance of their traditional medicinal knowledge and protection of wild medicinal plant resources are facing serious challenges, including the decreasing number of local healers, aging of healers, lack of successors, and excessive harvesting of medicinal plant resources. This ethnobotanical survey provides a useful reference for the sustainable utilization and protection of medicinal plant resources in Mile and the inheritance of traditional medicinal knowledge of the Yi people.

Japonisine A, a fawcettimine-type Lycopodium alkaloid with an unusual skeleton from Lycopodium japonicum Thunb

Japonisine A, a novel fawcettimine-type Lycopodium alkaloid with an unusual skeleton and two new fawcettimine-type ones, along with 20 known Lycopodium alkaloids, were isolated from the whole plants of Lycopodium japonicum Thunb. Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR, and HR-ESIMS, as well as by comparison with the literature data. Notably, japonisine A (1) was the first example of fawcettimine-related Lycopodium alkaloid with a 2-oxopropyl attached at C-6. All the isolates were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and α-glucosidase. Unfortunately, the results indicated that all the compounds were inactive against the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and α-glucosidase.