[Medicinal plants: concentrators and superconcentrators of copper and its role in metabolism of these species].

With the combination of the atomic absorption method and spectrophotometry, we conducted the testing of medicinal plants of Russian flora (approximately 200 species) on the content of copper (Cu). We revealed 36 species-concentrators and superconcentrators of this element. The capability of these species to accumulate Cu is compared with the synthesis of physiologically active compounds (PAC), among which alkaloids and phenolic compounds prevail. The stimulating influence of Cu on the formation and accumulation of alkaloids of main structural types--derivatives of chinolysidine, isochinoline, tropane, and indole--is established. The data about the role of Cu-containing enzymes in the metabolism of alkaloids, as well as of phenolic compounds, are reviewed on the example of flavonoids. The role of concentrated copper in the medicinal effect of medicinal plants and, thus, the appearing perspective to widen their application spectrum, especially in the cases when the orientation of the action of PAC and Cu are different, is discussed.

[Genetic aspects of the interrelation between alkaloids and chemical elements in Atropa belladonna L. and Glaucium flavum Grantz. plants].

The variability of the contents of tropane and isoquinoline alkaloids, ashes, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, Mo, Cr, Al, Ba, V, Ni, Sr, Cd, Pb, J, and Ag was studied in individual plants of the industrial population of belladonna (Atropa belladonna L.) and yellow horned poppy (Glaucium flavum Crantz.). Numerous linear and nonlinear correlations of isoquinoline and tropane alkaloids with ashes and mineral elements were revealed by means of correlation and regression analyses. Alkaline earth elements (especially Sr and Ba) were shown to have a major role in the regulation of tropane alkaloid accumulation in belladonna leaves. K and Ni were of particular importance in the aerial part of yellow horned poppy. These elements at the suboptimal concentrations were most favorable for isoquinoline alkaloid accumulation in yellow horned poppy. Analytical mathematical models were derived for the regulation of alkaloid metabolism in test plants by some mineral elements (Ba, Mg, Al, Sr, Ni, Mn, and K). Our results indicate that the interrelation between alkaloids and elements in these plants is genetically determined.

[Regulatory role of elements in the formation and accumulation of alkaloids in Papaver somniferum L. seedlings].

The effects of 12 elements on the formation and accumulation of isoquinolines were studied in opium poppy seedlings (Papaver somniferum L.). Three types of concentration dependences of the effects of the elements under study were determined. The elements served as activators (Co, Mo, W, Cr, and Cu) or inhibitors of these processes (B, Fe, V, Mn, and Ca). The molecular mechanisms of action of these regulators are discussed. The optimum concentrations of Co and Mo were tested under combined treatment conditions with these elements.

[Role of elements and physiologically active compounds in the regulation of synthesis and accumulation of indole alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus L].

Effects of various elements (Co, Ni, Zn, W, Mn, Cr, B, Mo, Fe, and V), natural and synthetic auxins, cytokinins, and gibberellin on biosynthesis and accumulation of indole alkaloids was studied at increasing concentrations in the model system of Madagascar periwinkle seedlings (Catharanthus roseus L.). The main types of concentration dependences for the effect of physiologically active compounds under study were evaluated. A possible mechanism of the influence of Zn and auxin on this process was partly clarified. The compounds were shown to modulate various stages in the biosynthesis of monomeric indole alkaloids (catharanthine and vindoline).

[Theoretical bases of optimization of the modes of postharvest treatment of alkaloid-synthesizing medicinal plants]. / Teoreticheskie osnovy optimizatsii rezhimov posleuborchnoi obrabotki lekarstvennykh rastenii, sinteziruiushchikh alkaloidy.

The method of disks in combination with thin-layer chromatography and spectrophotometry was used for a comparative evaluation of the efficiency of different methods of fixing and fermentation of medicinal plants (leaves). Medicinal plant species capable of synthesizing alkaloids of various structural types (isoquinoline derivatives including benzophenanthridines, bisbenzylisoquinoline, quaternary protoberberines, and aporphines, as well as steroid and diterpene alkaloids) were used. The methods of fixing and fermentation were shown to exert a substantial effect on both the qualitative and quantitative composition of alkaloids. This difference in the alkaloid composition was found to represent the superposition of three independent and, to a large extent, opposite processes: catabolism of alkaloids, interaction of alkaloids with each other, and resynthesis from primary precursors. The use of different methods of fixing and fermentation provides activation or inhibition of these processes, thereby making it possible to carry out target-oriented correction of the alkaloid composition of the medicinal plants studied.

[Genetic aspects of the relationship between isoquinoline alkaloids and mineral elements in greater celandine (Chelidonium majus L.)]. / Geneticheskii aspekt vzaimosviazi izokhinolinovykh alkaloidov i élementov u chistotela bol'shogo (Chelidonium majus L.).

Interrelations between the total content of isoquinoline alkaloids, concentrations of quaternary protoberberines and benzophenanthridines, and the amount of K, Cu, Co, Al, Ba, and Zn in aerial parts of individual celandine plants were revealed, within a single cenopopulation, using correlation analysis and regression analysis. Mathematical models describing the regulation of isoquinoline metabolism by some of the mineral elements were obtained in the analytical form. The results suggest that this process is genetically determined.

[Evaluation of correlation between the content of alkaloids and chemical elements in Washington lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.) besed on statistical analysis and mathematical simulation]. / Otsenka zavisimosti mezhdu alkaloidami i élementami v liupine mnogolistnom (Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.) na osnove statisticheskogo analiza i matematicheskogo modelirovania.

A considerable number of linear and nonlinear correlations between concentrations of quinolizidine alkaloids and concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Ba, Zn, Cu, Ni, and V were found in lupin seeds and leaves by using methods of correlation and regression analysis. Mathematical models of regulation of alkaloid metabolism by these chemical elements were constructed. The models of regulation were considered separately for individual plant organs.

[Chemistry of medicinal plants (review)]. / Osobennosti khimizma lekarstvennykh rastenii (obzor).

Data on the chemical composition related to synthesis of physiologically active substances (alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, etc.), and accumulation of individual elements or groups of five to ten elements (e.g., Cr, Co, Mn, and Zn) in medicinal plants were reviewed. Chemical features of medicinal plants serve as an integral determinant of their species specificity and pharmacological properties and enabling their wide use in medical practice. The relationship between the synthesis of physiologically active substances and accumulation of elements is mediated by several levels of molecular regulation.

[Features of the elemental composition of medicinal plants, synthesizing phenolic compounds]. / Osobennosti élementnogo sostava lekarstvennykh rastenii, sinteziruiushchikh fenol'nye soedineniia.

A total of 52 species of medicinal plants capable of synthesizing phenolic compounds were subjected to mass-scale screening for 24 chemical elements. The screening was performed by atomic absorption spectrometry in combination with spectrophotometric detection. The plant species tested were found to accumulate groups of two to ten chemical elements (Fe, Cr, Cu, Co, Mn, etc.), which are known cofactors and activators of many enzymes of phenol metabolism. Some of the plant species tested are overconcentrators of Cr, Co, Mn, I, and other chemical elements. The possibility of the use of these plants in the treatment and prophylaxis of disorders of the microelement metabolism is discussed.