Un curare d'une Erythrine africaine

An alcaloid C16H19NO3 has been isolated from Erythrina tholloniana; the iodohydrate of this erythroidine has a melting point of 225°C and 239°C for its chlorhydrate. It has a powerful curare-like action on the frog or on its isolated sciatic-sartorius preparation; at a concentration of less than 1/1,000,000, a complete neuromuscular block is produced: the electrical stimulation of the motor nerve does not produce any contraction, but the muscle reacts by an end-plate potential having the same characteristics (shape, duration, possibility of summation) as the electrical waves produced in the same preparation curarized by ordinary curare or by quaternary ammonium derivatives. Decurarization by veratrine 1/200,000 is accompanied by the same electrical reactions as those which have been described in preparations treated by curare. On mammals, the alcaloid has little curariform activity; on the isolated phrenic-diaphragm preparation of the rat, incomplete block was produced at a concentration of 1/5000. © 1948 Birkhäuser Verlag.