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REVIEW article

Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2024.1427147

Pharmacology of boldine: Summary of the field and update on recent advances

Provisionally accepted
Juan Saez Juan Saez 1Justin C. Burrell Justin C. Burrell 2,3Catherine Cahill Catherine Cahill 4DANIEL K. CULLEN DANIEL K. CULLEN 2,5Lakshmi A. Devi Lakshmi A. Devi 6,7,8Ryan J. Gilbert Ryan J. Gilbert 10,9Zachary Graham Zachary Graham 11Vadim J. Gurvich Vadim J. Gurvich 12Leif A. Havton Leif A. Havton 13,14,8Ravi Iyengar Ravi Iyengar 15,16,6Rajesh Khanna Rajesh Khanna 17Edmund Palermo Edmund Palermo 18,9Mustafa M. Siddiq Mustafa M. Siddiq 15,16,6Carlos A. Toro Carlos A. Toro 14,19Wei Zhao Wei Zhao 14,20Christopher P. Cardozo Christopher P. Cardozo 14,20,21*
  • 1 Instituto de Neurosciencias, Universidad de Valparaiso, Valparaíso, Valparaiso, Chile
  • 2 Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 3 Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 4 Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
  • 5 Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 6 Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States
  • 7 Department of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • 8 Nash Family Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • 9 Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, Alabama, United States
  • 10 Albany Stratton VA Medical Center, United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Albany, New York, United States
  • 11 Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, Florida, Illinois, United States
  • 12 Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
  • 13 Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • 14 Spinal Cord Damage Research Center, James J. Peters VA Medical Center, Bronx, New York, United States
  • 15 Department of Pharmacological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • 16 Mount Sinai Institute for Systems Biomedicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • 17 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
  • 18 Department of Materials Science and Engineering, School of Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, Alabama, United States
  • 19 Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States
  • 20 Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • 21 Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Over the past decade, boldine, a naturally occurring alkaloid found in several plant species including the Chilean Boldo tree, has garnered attention for its efficacy in rodent models of human disease. Some of the properties that have been attributed to boldine include antioxidant activities, neuroprotective and analgesic actions, hepatoprotective effects, anti-inflammatory actions, cardioprotective effects and anticancer potential.Compelling data now indicates that boldine blocks connexin (Cx) hemichannels (HCs) and that many if not all of its effects in rodent models of injury and disease are due to CxHC blockade. Here we provide an overview of boldine's pharmacological properties, including its efficacy in rodent models of common human injuries and diseases, and of its absorption, distribution, pharmacokinetics, and metabolism.

    Keywords: Boldine, hemichannels, Pharmacology, connexin (Cx), properties, phramacokinetics

    Received: 07 May 2024; Accepted: 29 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Saez, Burrell, Cahill, CULLEN, Devi, Gilbert, Graham, Gurvich, Havton, Iyengar, Khanna, Palermo, Siddiq, Toro, Zhao and Cardozo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Christopher P. Cardozo, Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, 10029-5674, New York, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.