Effects of Tiliacorine on Voluntary Muscle and Blood Pressure

Tiliacora racemosa Colebr. belongs to the family Menispermaceae, the biggest storehouse of diphenylbisbenzylisoquinoline (DBBI) alkaloids. Exhaustive chemical processing of the root of T. racemosa by the application of modern separation techniques yielded a DBBI alkaloid which was identified as tiliacorine using sophisticated spectroscopic methods $(UV,\;IR,\;^1H-NMR,\;Mass)$. Tiliacorine possesses neuromuscular blocking activity. It produces a dose dependent hypotensive effect in rats and cats, and this effect is blocked by atropine.