Effects of berberine,glaucine, stephaglabrine,and sanguirythrine on neuromuscular transmission

The effects of certain alkaloid (glaucine, stephaglabrine, and sanguirythrine) on parameters of neuromuscular transmission follow a complex pattern and are thought likely to operate via two or more different mechanisms. These alkaloids, in common with berberine, reduced the amplitude of miniature potentials at the frog neuromuscular junction. All four concentrations reduced and raised miniature potential rate at low and high concentrations respectively — a very marked action in the case of sanguirythrine, producing virtually a 100-fold increase, probably due to its uncoupling effect on oxidative phosphorylation at the mitochondria of the nerve endings. Sanguirythrine and stephaglabrine both gave rise to repeated muscular contraction which matches their anticholinesterase activity. High glaucine concentrations also induced contraction of the muscles.Institute for Hydrobiontic Substance Research, Soviet Ministry of Health, Moscow. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 131–135, March–April, 1991.