Abstract
For centuries, the rare Chinese club moss Huperzia serrata has been used in the preparation of the traditional Chinese medicine Qian Ceng Ta, a treatment for fever and inflammation (Skolnick, 1997). In 1986, an alkaloid, huperzine A was isolated from this herbal medicine and shown to be a potent inhibitor of the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (Bai et al., 2000). Acetylcholinesterase breaks down acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter involved in thought, reasoning, and judgment. Scientists have long recognized that compounds with the ability to inhibit acetylcholinesterase can help improve memory and thus be used to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer’ s disease and other dementias.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bai DL, Tang XC, He XC. Huperzine A, a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Curr Med Chem 2000; 7: 355–74.
Cheng DH, Ren H, Tang XC. Huperzine A, a novel promising acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Neuroreport 1996; 8: 97–101.
Cheng DH, Tang XC. Comparative studies of huperzine A, E2020, and tacrine on behavior and cholinesterase activities. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 1998; 60: 377–86.
Felgenhauer N, Zilker T, Worek F, Eyer P. Intoxication with huperzine A, a potent anticholinesterase found in the fir club moss. J Toxicol Clin Toxicol 2000; 38: 803–808.
Grunwald J, Raveh L, Doctor BP, Ashani Y. Huperzine A as a pretreatment candidate drug against nerve agent toxicity. Life Sci 1994; 54: 991–97.
Intlecs, 2002. Huperzine A—product information. Available from: URL: http://store.yahoo.com/biomedisyn/index.htmlAccessed February 6, 2002.
Laganiere S, Corey J, Tang XC, Wulfert E, Hanin I. Acute and chronic studies with the anticholinesterase huperzine A: effect on central nervous system cholinergic parameters. Neuropharmacology 1991; 30: 763–68.
Lipton SA, Rosenberg PA. Excitatory amino acids as a final common pathway for neurologic disorders. N Engl J Med 1994; 330: 613–22.
Lu WH, Shou J, Tang XC. Improving effect of huperzine A on discrimination performance in aged rats and adult rats with experimental cognitive impairment (Chinese). Acta Pharmacol Sin 1988; 9: 11–5.
Mazurek A. An open label trial of huperzine A in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Ahern Ther Health Med 1999; 5: 97–8.
Qian BC, Wang M, Zhou ZF, et al. Pharmacokinetics of tablet huperzine A in six volunteers. Acta Pharmacol Sin 1995; 16: 396–98.
Raves ML, Harel M, Pang YP, et al. Structure of acetylcholinesterase complexed with the nootropic alkaloid, (-)-huperzine A. Nat Struct Biol 1997; 4: 57–63.
Ros E, Aleu J, Gomez DA, I, et al. The pharmacology of novel acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, (+/-)-huprines Y and X, on the Torpedo electric organ. Eur J Pharmacol 2001; 421: 77–84.
Skolnick AA. Old Chinese herbal medicine used for fever yields possible new Alzheimer disease therapy. JAMA 1997; 277: 776.
Sun QQ, Xu SS, Pan JL, Guo HM, Cao WQ. Huperzine-A capsules enhance memory and learning performance in 34 pairs of matched adolescent students. Acta Pharmacol Sin 1999; 20: 601–03.
Tang XC. Huperzine A (shuangyiping): a promising drug for Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Pharmacol Sin 1996; 17: 481–484.
Tang XC, De Sarno P, Sugaya K, Giacobini E. Effect of huperzine A, a new cholinesterase inhibitor, on the central cholinergic system of the rat. J Neurosci Res 1989; 24: 276–85.
Tang XC, Han YF. Pharmacological profile of huperzine A, a novel acetylcholinesterase inhibitor from chinese herb. CNS Drug Rev 1999; 5: 281–300.
Wang H, Tang XC. Anticholinesterase effects of huperzine A, E2020, and tacrine in rats. Acta Pharmacol Sin 1998a; 19: 27–30.
Wang R, Zhang HY, Tang XC. Huperzine A attenuates cognitive dysfunction and neuronal degeneration caused by beta-amyloid protein-(1–40) in rat. Eur J Pharmacol 2001; 421: 149–56.
Wang T, Tang XC. Reversal of scopolamine-induced deficits in radial maze performance by (-)-huperzine A: comparison with E2020 and tacrine. Eur J Pharmacol 1998b; 349: 137–42.
Wang XD, Zhang JM, Yang HH, Hu GY. Modulation of NMDA receptor by huperzine A in rat cerebral cortex. Acta Pharmacol Sin 1999; 20: 31–5.
Xiao XQ, Wang R, Tang XC. Huperzine A and tacrine attenuate beta-amyloid peptide-induced oxidative injury. J Neurosci Res 2000;61:564–69.
Xiong ZQ, Cheng DH, Tang XC. Effects of huperzine A on nucleus basalis magnocellularis lesion-induced spatial working memory deficit. Acta Pharmacol Sin 1998; 19: 128–32.
Xu SS, Gao ZX, Weng Z, et al. Efficacy of tablet huperzine-A on memory, cognition, and behavior in Alzheimer’s disease. Acta Pharmacol Sin 1995; 16: 391–95.
Yan XF, Lu WH, Lou WJ, Tang XC. Effects of huperzine A and B on skeletal muscle and the electroencephalogram (Chinese). Acta Pharmacol Sin 1987; 8: 117–23.
Ye JW, Cai JX, Wang LM, Tang XC. Improving effects of huperzine A on spatial working memory in aged monkeys and young adult monkeys with experimental cognitive impairment. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1999; 288: 814–19.
Zhou J, Fu Y, Tang XC. Huperzine A and donepezil protect rat pheochromocytoma cells against oxygen-glucose deprivation. Neurosci Lett 2001;306:53–6.
Zhu XD, Giacobini E. Second generation cholinesterase inhibitors: effect of (L)-huperzine-A on cortical biogenic amines J Neurosci Res 1995; 41: 828–35.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jacknowitz, A.I., Tracy, T.S. (2003). Huperzine. In: Cupp, M.J., Tracy, T.S. (eds) Dietary Supplements. Forensic Science and Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-303-3_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-303-3_14
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-9726-7
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-303-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive