Description
Peimine is a steroidal alkaloid found in a variety of species of the Fritillaria plant; it exhibits anti-inflammatory activity and acts as an expectorant and anti-tussive in cough medications. Peimine’s anti-tussive activity may result from negative potentiation of transient receptor potential channels TRPV1 and TRPA1 in vitro. Peimine inhibits cough frequency and cough latency in animal models. Additionally, peimine binds the DNA duplex, inhibits production of pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β, and decreases expression of IκB kinase, JNK, and p38.
References
Yi PF, Wu YC, Dong HB, et al. Peimine impairs pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion through the inhibition of the activation of NF-κB and MAPK in LPS-induced RAW264.7 macrophages. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2013 Oct;35(5):567-72. PMID: 23944357.
Ma L, Song F, Liu Z, et al. Study on noncovalent complexes of alkaloids with DNA duplex using electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2013 Jan 15;27(1):51-8. PMID: 23239316.
Wang D, Zhu J, Wang S, et al. Antitussive, expectorant and anti-inflammatory alkaloids from Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae. Fitoterapia. 2011 Dec;82(8):1290-4. PMID: 21958967.
Zhang Y, Sreekrishna K, Lin Y, et al. Modulation of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels by Chinese herbal extracts. Phytother Res. 2011 Nov;25(11):1666-70. PMID: 21432926.
