Cytisin

BeschreibungCytisin ist ein u. a. im Gemeinen Goldregen vorkommendes Chinolizidin-Alkaloid. Die Substanz wirkt, ähnlich wie Nikotin, auf die nikotinischen Acetylcholin-Rezeptoren und führt somit zuerst zu einer Erregung des zentralen Nervensystems; bei höheren Dosen zur Lähmung desselben, wobei bei Cytisin, anders als bei Nikotin die erregende Wirkung die lähmende überwiegt. Cytisin ist stark giftig. Die Einnahme führt zu Brennen im Mund, Übelkeit, blutigem Erbrechen, Schweißausbrüchen und Schwindel; bei höheren Dosen zu strychninartigen Krämpfen und Halluzinationen. Der Tod tritt infolge einer zentralen Atemlähmung ein. Tödliche Vergiftungen sind jedoch relativ selten, da die Substanz starken Brechreiz hervorruft, was meist die Resorption einer tödlichen Dosis verhindert. Getrocknete Blätter des Goldregens wurden teilweise als Tabakersatz verwendet. Cytisinhaltige Präparate waren in die früheren Ostblockstaaten als Medikament zur Raucherentwöhnung stark verbreitet. Auch heute wird Cytisin unter dem Markennahmen Tabex� in einigen Ländern (z.B. Bulgarien) vertrieben.

BeschreibungIt is an alkaloid that occurs naturally in several plant genera, such as Laburnum and Cytisus of the family Fabaceae. Pi-Zhen-Ye-Huang-Hua (Thermopsis lanceolata R.Br) contains large amount of cytisine, and it is distributed in the northeast, north, and northwest of China. This herb has been traditionally used for treating cough in China and was recorded in “Yue-Wang-Yao-Zhen,”“Jing-ZhuBen-Cao,”“Zhong-Hua-Ben-Cao,” and “Ning-Xia-Zhong-Cao-Yao-Shou-Ce.”

HistoryThe largest amount of cytisine (about 1–5%) is also found in the seeds of common garden decorative plant Du-Dou (Laburnum anagyroides). In the early twentieth century, cytisine was identified as the toxic component of this plant. The extracts of Laburnum seeds or flowers have been used in traditional medicine for hundreds of years. In the Second World War, the leaves of Laburnum anagyroides were used as a tobacco substitute by soldiers. In 1960s, cytisine was firstly used as a smoking cessation aid in Bulgaria. The pharmacological and clinical studies of cytisine were also conducted in other Eastern European countries such as Poland and Russia. These results were promising. Stoyanov S. and Yanachkova M. studied 70 volunteers with a long experience in smoking. They found that 57% volunteers stopped smoking and 31.4% volunteers decreased cigarettes: reduction of the cigarettes smoked from 20–30 to 3–4 a day. Cytisine was developed and marked as Tabex (Sopharma, Bulgaria), which has been widely distributed in the Eastern Europe .