Dehydrocorydaline

Dehydrocorydaline is one of the quaternary ammonium alkaloids from Corydalis Rhizoma^[1]. Dehydrocorydaline inhibits platelet aggregation by a mechanism involving the adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-receptors P2Y₁ and P2Y₁₂, and it can also alter the content of monoamine in brains by limiting uptake-2 monoamine transporters, thus exerting its antidepressant effects^[1-2]. Dehydrocorydaline exhibited potent anti-malarial activity (IC₅₀=38nM) when tested against the P. falciparum 3D7 strain^[3].

In vitro, MCF-7 cells were treated with Dehydrocorydaline (0-200μM) for 24 hours, which significantly inhibited the growth of MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. When MCF-7 cells were co-incubated with 200μM Dehydrocorydaline and 10μM Z-IETD-FMK, the cell death induced by Dehydrocorydaline could be abrogated^[4]. Treatment of C2C12 myoblasts with Dehydrocorydaline (125-500nM; 2 days) increased the expression levels of muscle‑specific proteins, including MyoD, myogenin, and myosin heavy chain in a dose-dependent manner^[5].

In vivo, after intraperitoneal injection of Dehydrocorydaline (3.6, 6, or 10mg/kg), the onset time of writhing in mice was delayed in a dose-dependent manner in the acetic acid-induced test, and a dose-dependent antinociceptive effect was observed^[6]. Subcutaneous injection of 500µM Dehydrocorydaline (50µL) into mice with subcutaneously implanted MDA-MB-231 cells inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 tumor xenografts in SCID mice and decreased cell proliferation in newly formed tumors in vivo^[7].

References:
[1] Jin L, Zhou S, Zhu S, et al. Dehydrocorydaline induced antidepressant-like effect in a chronic unpredictable mild stress mouse model via inhibiting uptake-2 monoamine transporters. Eur J Pharmacol. 2019;864:172725.
[2] Li Y, Zhang L, Zhang P, Hao Z. Dehydrocorydaline Protects Against Sepsis-Induced Myocardial Injury Through Modulating the TRAF6/NF-κB Pathway. Front Pharmacol. 2021;12:709604.
[3] Nonaka M, Murata Y, Takano R, Han Y, Kabir MHB, Kato K. Screening of a library of traditional Chinese medicines to identify anti-malarial compounds and extracts. Malar J. 2018;17(1):244.
[4] Xu Z, Chen X, Fu S, et al. Dehydrocorydaline inhibits breast cancer cells proliferation by inducing apoptosis in MCF-7 cells [published correction appears in Am J Chin Med. 2012;40(6):1323]. Am J Chin Med. 2012;40(1):177-185.
[5] Yoo M, Lee SJ, Kim YK, et al. Dehydrocorydaline promotes myogenic differentiation via p38 MAPK activation. Mol Med Rep. 2016;14(4):3029-3036.
[6] Yin ZY, Li L, Chu SS, Sun Q, Ma ZL, Gu XP. Antinociceptive effects of dehydrocorydaline in mouse models of inflammatory pain involve the opioid receptor and inflammatory cytokines. Sci Rep. 2016;6:27129.
[7] Huang Y, Huang H, Wang S, Chen F, Zheng G. Dehydrocorydaline inhibits the tumorigenesis of breast cancer MDA‑MB‑231 cells. Mol Med Rep. 2020;22(1):43-50.