Chapter 14
Pharmaceutical Application
of Bio-actives from Alstonia Genus:
Current Findings and Future Directions
Atish T. Paul, Ginson George, Nisha Yadav, Arjun Jeswani,
and Prashant S. Auti
Abstract Genus Alstonia is comprised of around 155 species throughout the
world. Phytochemical screening of Alstonia genus has demonstrated the presence of
diverse phytochemicals that include at least 800 distinct metabolites. The main
classes of metabolites are alkaloids, iridoids, flavonoids, fatty acids, etc. Secondary
metabolites from this genus also bring positive results when employed as anticancer, anti-spasmodic, antitussive, antiarthritic, antioxidant, etc. Alstonia boonei is
listed as an antimalarial drug in African pharmacopoeia. In China, a formulation
consists of A. scholaris leaves—Dengtaiye tablets are used for the treatment of
cough and fever symptoms. Recently, A. scholaris leaves-derived indole alkaloids
have been registered as an investigational new botanical drug (No. 2011L01436)
and China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has approved its phase I/II
clinical trials for the treatment of respiratory diseases. Pharmacokinetic and safety
analysis of this botanical drug in healthy human subjects have revealed a safe
profile under the dose regimen experiment. Apart from that, strictamine, an indole
alkaloid isolated from A. scholaris exhibited a similar in vitro antiviral activity to
that of acyclovir. The present chapter is mainly focused on the critical analysis of
various secondary metabolites isolated from Alstonia (approximately 15 species).
Apart from that, pharmacological, toxicological and intellectual property rights
studies have also been included.
Keywords Genus alstonia Á Secondary metabolites Á Pharmacological activities Á
Pharmacokinetic studies Á IPR
A. T. Paul (&) Á G. George Á N. Yadav Á A. Jeswani Á P. S. Auti
Laboratory of Natural Product Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of
Technology and Science Pilani (BITS Pilani), Pilani Campus, Pilani 333031, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: atish.paul@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Pal and A. K. Nayak (eds.), Bioactive Natural Products
for Pharmaceutical Applications, Advanced Structured Materials 140,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54027-2_14
463
Pharmaceutical Application
of Bio-actives from Alstonia Genus:
Current Findings and Future Directions
Atish T. Paul, Ginson George, Nisha Yadav, Arjun Jeswani,
and Prashant S. Auti
Abstract Genus Alstonia is comprised of around 155 species throughout the
world. Phytochemical screening of Alstonia genus has demonstrated the presence of
diverse phytochemicals that include at least 800 distinct metabolites. The main
classes of metabolites are alkaloids, iridoids, flavonoids, fatty acids, etc. Secondary
metabolites from this genus also bring positive results when employed as anticancer, anti-spasmodic, antitussive, antiarthritic, antioxidant, etc. Alstonia boonei is
listed as an antimalarial drug in African pharmacopoeia. In China, a formulation
consists of A. scholaris leaves—Dengtaiye tablets are used for the treatment of
cough and fever symptoms. Recently, A. scholaris leaves-derived indole alkaloids
have been registered as an investigational new botanical drug (No. 2011L01436)
and China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) has approved its phase I/II
clinical trials for the treatment of respiratory diseases. Pharmacokinetic and safety
analysis of this botanical drug in healthy human subjects have revealed a safe
profile under the dose regimen experiment. Apart from that, strictamine, an indole
alkaloid isolated from A. scholaris exhibited a similar in vitro antiviral activity to
that of acyclovir. The present chapter is mainly focused on the critical analysis of
various secondary metabolites isolated from Alstonia (approximately 15 species).
Apart from that, pharmacological, toxicological and intellectual property rights
studies have also been included.
Keywords Genus alstonia Á Secondary metabolites Á Pharmacological activities Á
Pharmacokinetic studies Á IPR
A. T. Paul (&) Á G. George Á N. Yadav Á A. Jeswani Á P. S. Auti
Laboratory of Natural Product Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, Birla Institute of
Technology and Science Pilani (BITS Pilani), Pilani Campus, Pilani 333031, Rajasthan, India
e-mail: atish.paul@pilani.bits-pilani.ac.in
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
D. Pal and A. K. Nayak (eds.), Bioactive Natural Products
for Pharmaceutical Applications, Advanced Structured Materials 140,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54027-2_14
463