PARTE UTILIZADA= Used part: Hoja y frutos.

ACCIÓN FARMACOLÓGICA= Pharmacological action: Reduce la secrecion glandular.

POSOLOGÍA= Posology: Uso exclusivo por prescripción y bajo control médico. Farmacopea Europea (3ª ed): Polvo de beleño titulado entre 0.05 y 0.07 % de alcaloides totales. Farmacopea Francesa (10ª ed): Tintura de beleño titulada entre 0.009-0.010 % de alcaloides totales.

COMPOSICIÓN QUÍMICA= Chemical composition
: Según la anterior edición de la FFarmacopea Española , debe contener no menos del 0.05 por ciento de alcaloide totales, expresados en  hiosciamina referida a la droga desecadas a 100-105 ºC. Los alcaloides estan constituidos principalmente por hiosciamina acompañada de proporciones variables de escopolamina (hioscina).

ZONA GEOGRÁFICA= Geografical zone: Europea

DIVERSIDAD GENÉTICA Y MEJORAMIENTO DE PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants and improvement of medicinal herbs:

A genetic and physiol. study of biennialism in the diploid selfer Hyoscyamus niger (black henbane), an obligate long-day plant, is described.  Three annual and two biennial accessions that were homozygous for their resp. growth habits were selected.  The early-flowering trait of two annual accessions was dominant over the late-flowering trait of the third annual accession.  The late-flowering annual accession, but not the early-flowering ones, responded to vernalization.  Two biennial accessions remained vegetative after more than 1 yr in soil and thus had an obligate vernalization requirement.  Crosses between annual and biennial accessions showed that biennialism was conferred through a single dominant gene.  However, plants contg. only one copy of this dominant gene were transformed from biennials into very late-flowering winter-annual plants that responded more rapidly to vernalization than biennials.  Taken together, these results indicated that there were allelic differences in photoperiod-specific flowering time genes and that biennialism was a dose-dependent trait with incomplete dominance.  Models for flowering time regulation in henbane involving photoperiod-, vernalization-, and most likely gibberellin-specific pathways are discussed.

ÚLTIMOS AVANCES EN LA QUÍMICA Y ACTIVIDADES BACTERIOLÓGICAS EN LAS PLANTAS MEDICINALES= Medicinal plants, last advances on chemistry and bacteria activities on the medicinal herbs

1) The reports on chem. constituents of Hyoscyamus niger were summarized.  The compds. include alkaloids, saponins, lignans, coumarinolignans, flavonoids, and some other nonalkaloidal compds.  TLC, HPLC, and GC were used for the qual. and quant. analyses of some chem. constituents in H. niger.  Modern pharmacol. expts. showed that H. niger had the analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, anticonvulsant, spasmolytic, antidiarrhoeal, antisecretory, bronchodilatory, urinary bladder relaxant, hypotensive, cardiosuppressant, vasodilator, antitumor, and feeding deterrent properties.  In addn., the toxicities of this medicinal plant were also described.

2) The methanolic ext. obtained from the seeds of Hyoscyamus niger L. (Solanaceae) was investigated for its antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis ATCC 6633, Bacillus cereus ATCC 7064, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538P, Escherichia coli ATCC 10538, Proteus vulgaris ATCC 6899, Salmonella typhimurium CCM 5445 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 by disk diffusion and microdilution method.  The exts. showed strong antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, with inhibition zones of 25.0 mm and with min. inhibitory concns. (MICs) and min. bactericidal concns. (MBCs) of 16 (32) mg/mL, resp.  Also, the exts. exhibited moderate activity against the other test bacteria.  The results demonstrate that the methanolic ext. of the seeds of H. niger has significant activity and suggest that it may be useful in the treatment of infections.

3) Hyoscyamus species is one of the four plants used in Ayurveda for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD).  Since Hyoscyamusniger was found to contain negligible levels of L-DOPA, we evaluated neuroprotective potential, if any, of characterized petroleum ether and aq. methanol exts. of its seeds in 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) model of PD in mice.  Air dried authenticated H. niger seeds were sequentially extd. using petroleum ether and aq. methanol and were characterized employing HPLC-electrochem. and LCMS.  Parkinsonian mice were treated daily twice with the exts. (125-500 mg/kg, p.o.) for two days and motor functions and striatal dopamine levels were assayed.  Administration of the aq. methanol ext. (contg. 0.03% wt./wt. of L-DOPA), but not petroleum ether ext., significantly attenuated motor disabilities (akinesia, catalepsy and reduced swim score) and striatal dopamine loss in MPTP treated mice.  Since the ext. caused significant inhibition of monoamine oxidase activity and attenuated 1-methyl-4-Ph pyridinium (MPP+)-induced hydroxyl radical (×OH) generation in isolated mitochondria, it is possible that the methanolic ext. of Hyoscyamusniger seeds protects against parkinsonism in mice by means of its ability to inhibit increased ×OH generated in the mitochondria.

Patente extraída del Chemical Abstracts= Patent extrated from the Database Chemical Abstracts
 
 Protein and cDNA sequences of a novel Hyoscyamus niger littorine mutase/hydroxylase gene and uses for alerting alkaloid biosynthesis.      Li, Rong; Reed, Darwin W.; Page, Jonathan E.; Covello, Patrick S.  (National Research Council of Canada, Can.).    PCT Int. Appl.  (2006),     55 pp.  CODEN: PIXXD2  WO  2006010246  A1  20060202  Designated States W: AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BW, BY, BZ, CA, CH, CN, CO, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, DZ, EC, EE, EG, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KM, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NA, NG, NI, NO, NZ, OM, PG, PH, PL, PT, RO, RU, SC, SD, SE, SG, SK, SL, SM, SY, TJ, TM, TN, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VC, VN, YU, ZA, ZM, ZW.  Designated States RW: AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IS, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE, TR, BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG.  Patent  written in English.    Application: WO  2005-CA826  20050531.  Priority: US  2004-592144P  20040730.  CAN 144:186031    AN 2006:103479    CAPLUS   (Copyright (C) 2011 ACS on SciFinder (R))  

The invention provides protein and cDNA sequences of a novel Hyoscyamus niger littorine mutase/hydroxylase gene.  The gene is used in processes of altering alkaloid biosynthesis.  Transgenic plants contg. the gene have been produced and used for the prodn. of tropane alkaloid.

Origin:
Native to Europe and Asia. Occurs in the temperate Himalayas from Kashmir to Garhwal.

Action:
Sedative. Narcotic drug. Used for convulsions. Action similar to Belladonna.

Toxicity:
Narcotic drug.

1) Fitoterapia: vademecum de prescripción. 4ª  ed. Barcelona: Masson, 2003, p.138.

2) SCHLAPPI, M. Genetic and physiological analysis of biennialism in Hyoscyamus niger. Plant Biology (Berlin, Germany). 2011, vol.13, nº3, p.534-540.
 
3) LI, Jun, et al. Chemical and pharmacological researches on Hyoscyamus niger. Chinese Herbal Medicines. 2011, vol.3, nº2, p.117-126.
 
4) DULGER, Basaran; Goncu, Beyza S.; Gucin, Fahrettin.   Antibacterial activity of the seeds of Hyoscyamus niger L. (Henbane).  Asian Journal of Chemistry. 2010, vol.22, nº9, p.6879-6883.
 
5) SENGUPTA, T., et al. Antiparkinsonian Effects of Aqueous Methanolic Extract of Hyoscyamus niger Seeds Result From its Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitory and Hydroxyl Radical Scavenging Potency. Neurochemical Research. 2011, vol.36, nº1, p.177-186.

6) Khare, C.P./ Indian Medicinal Plants. -- Nueva Dheli: Springer, 2007 . - p. 836.