Description
Rutaecarpine is an indoloquinazoline alkaloid originally found in Evodia; it exhibits anti-inflammatory, anti-atherosclerotic, cardioprotective, anorexigenic, and anti-obesity activities. Rutaecarpine inhibits COX-2 and also decreases food intake, weight gain, and serum glucose, leptin, and insulin levels in vivo by inhibiting expression of neuropeptide Y and AgRP. Rutaecarpine also inhibits accumulation of macrophages and cholesterol in atherosclerotic lesions and increases cholesterol excretion in other animal models. Additionally, rutaecarpine inhibits hypoxia-induced production of ROS and lactate dehydrogenase and suppresses apoptosis in myocardiocytes. In other cellular models, rutaecarpine decreases corticosterone production, potentially through inhibition of cAMP, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, and 11β-hydroxylase activity. Rutaecarpine also inhibits production of ROS, NO, and iNOS, potentially through inhibition of NADPH oxidase. In macrophages, rutaecarpine inhibits arachidonic acid release and decreases production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2); in other in vitro models, it inhibits collagen-stimulated formation of thromboxane B2 and inosine monophosphate.
References
Xu Y, Liu Q, Xu Y, et al. Rutaecarpine suppresses atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice through up-regulating ABCA1 and SR-BI within RCT. J Lipid Res. 2014 Jun 7. [Epub ahead of print]. PMID: 24908654.
Chen YC, Zeng XY, He Y, et al. Rutaecarpine analogues reduce lipid accumulation in adipocytes via inhibiting adipogenesis/lipogenesis with AMPK activation and UPR suppression. ACS Chem Biol. 2013 Oct 18;8(10):2301-11. PMID: 23962138.
Bao MH, Dai W, Li YJ, et al. Rutaecarpine prevents hypoxia-reoxygenation-induced myocardial cell apoptosis via inhibition of NADPH oxidases. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2011 Mar;89(3):177-86. PMID: 21423291.
Kim SJ, Lee SJ, Lee S, et al. Rutecarpine ameliorates bodyweight gain through the inhibition of orexigenic neuropeptides NPY and AgRP in mice. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2009 Nov 20;389(3):437-42. PMID: 19732749.
Yu PL, Chao HL, Wang SW, et al. Effects of evodiamine and rutaecarpine on the secretion of corticosterone by zona fasciculata-reticularis cells in male rats. J Cell Biochem. 2009 Oct 1;108(2):469-75. PMID: 19639602.
Sheu JR, Hung WC, Lee YM, et al. Mechanism of inhibition of platelet aggregation by rutaecarpine, an alkaloid isolated from Evodia rutaecarpa. Eur J Pharmacol. 1996 Dec 30;318(2-3):469-75. PMID: 9016940.
