ABSTRACT
Plants from the family Papaveraceae are frequently used in traditional medicine as a remedy for treatment of several diseases. Such plants include Corydalis cava Schweigg. & Koerte; syn. Corydalis bulbosa (L.) Pers. non (L.) DC. and Chelidonium majus L. studied earlier by our group (Greater Celandine). The two species are closely related and belong to order Papaverales [1,2]. Milky sap as well as extracts of the whole Chelidonium majus plant has been used to treat papillae, warts, condylomae, which are a visible effect of human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. It has
also been found that they have antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, and fungistatic properties [3]. The tuber of Corydalis sp. contains isoquinoline alkaloids of apomorphine type, e.g. bulbocapnine, corydaline, which manifest analgetic, sedating and narcotic effects [4-7]. The plant has been used for the treatment of severe neurological disorders and mental diseases. It was also used in cases of asomnia, tension and anxiety conditions [7]. Some species of Corydalis are used in East Asia as analgetic drugs: in the traditional Chinese medicine, the species of Corydalis yanhusho was used to alleviate post-traumatic, colic, abdominal and menstrual pains [7]. Moreover, extracts of the same species showed anticancerous metastasis effect in vitro [8]. Anti-tumour activity of Corydalis species was also reported for Korean Corydalis turtschaninovii, which is effective for the treatment of inflammatory, allergic diseases and tumours [9]. Isoquinoline alkaloids contained in alcohol extracts of tubers in many species of Corydalis, affect metabolism of neurotransmitters [10]. Active compounds in such extracts include alkaloids, such as bulbocapnine, corydaline and corydine [11]. The similar curing properties of Chelidonium majus milky sap were attributed mainly to alkaloids, such as chelidonine, sanguinarine, berberine, coptosine, chelerythrine, and also several flavonoids and phenolic acids [12]. However, different findings show that all of them may be potentially toxic for human either alone or in combination [13,14].
