Natural and Synthetic Huperzine A: Effect on Cholinergic Function in Vitro and in Vivo

ISRAEL HANIN, XI‐CAN ‐C TANG, GISELA L. KINDEL, ALAN P. KOZIKOWSKI

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Huperzine A has been shown to be useful in the treatment of symptoms of dementia of the Alzheimer type. Our initial attempts to synthesize (‐)Huperzine A resulted in the racemic mixture of (−)Huperzine A. We have therefore compared the in vitro and in vivo effects of (±)Huperzine A with those of (−)Huperzine A in rats. The results indicate a similar biological mechanism of action between the two, but that the racemic mixture of (±) Huperzine A has a weaker biological activity than the natural product (−)Huperzine A, presumably due to the presence in the mixture of (+)Huperzine A, which is considerably less potent than the (−)isomer.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)304-306
Number of pages3
JournalAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Volume695
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1993
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • History and Philosophy of Science

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