Caulophyllum thalictroides, or blue cohosh, roots have been used for centuries by Native Americans and midwives to induce or augment labor. Despite this long history, literature on the use of blue cohosh gives mixed assessments on its effectiveness. Experiments using rat uterine tissue show that aqueous extracts of blue cohosh root do causes contractions of the uterine tissue, though the active ingredient is unknown. However, the current hypothesis is that the alkaloid family of compounds present in blue cohosh are responsible for the contractile response. Isolation of these alkaloids and determination of their role in the contractile response will aid in providing further information as to the implications of using blue cohosh as a natural remedy. The purpose of this research is to develop a method for rapid purification of N-methylcytisine, the most abundant alkaloid in blue cohosh, and to determine its role in the physiological response. Preliminary results using synthetic N-methylcytisine have shown that this alkaloid does contribute to the contractile response but is not solely responsible. While this result needs to be confirmed using isolated N-methylcytisine our research has expanded to developing methodologies for the extraction and purification of anagyrine and baptifoline, two additional alkaloids that may play a role in the physiological response. The purification methodologies will be worked out using a GRACE Reveleris® X2 flash chromatography system and identification of the alkaloids will be analyzed using a JEOL ECS-400MHz NMR spectrometer.

Extraction of N-methylcytisine from Caulophyllum thalictroides (blue cohosh)

249th National Meeting (2015)

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