Alkaloids

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms, produced by a large variety of organisms including bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. Compounds like amino acid peptides, proteins, nucleotides, nucleic acid, amines, and antibiotics are usually not called alkaloids. They are classified on the basis of the principal C-N skeleton structure which includes numerous subclasses of alkaloids namely, pyrrole, pyridine, quinoline, isoquinoline, indole and other alkaloids, etc. Alkaloids have a wide range of pharmacological activities including antimalarial, anti-asthmatic, anti-cancer, cholinomimetic, vasodilating, anti-arrhythmic, analgesic, anti-bacterial, and anti-diabetic activities. Many have found use in traditional or modern medicine, or as starting points for drug discovery. They possess potent pharmacological effects for eg. the well-known plant alkaloids include the narcotic analgesics, morphine and codeine, the muscle relaxant papaverine, and the antimicrobial agents sanguinarine and berberine. And some alkaloids are toxic.