Tropane alkaloids (hyoscyamine, scopolamine and atropine) from genus Datura: extractions, contents, syntheses and effects

Belonging to family Solanaceae, genus Datura is widely distributed all over the world and famous for its narcosis and acesodyne in ancient China. And Datura is also annoying due to the poisoning and hallucinogenic effects. Besides the medicine, it plays a magical role in seed germination and plant growth, and has good effects against plant diseases, insectsand weeding. Its main function components are tropane alkaloids (TAs), including hyoscyamine, scopolamine and atropine (HSA). They share a common tropane fragment (N-methyl-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1] octane). L-hyoscyamine and scopolamine are natural active ingredients in Datura, while atropine is an equal mixture of L-hyoscyamine and D-hyoscyamine, produced by the racemization of L-hyoscyamine during the extraction. As competitive antagonists of acetylcholine muscarinic (M-) choline receptors, HSA potently regulates the central nervous system (CNS). In addition, scopolamine shows effectiveness in the treatment of the respiratory and digestive system diseases, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and gastrointestinal motility disorders. Hyoscyamine has remarkable effects on treating Parkinson's disease, bradyarrhythmias and genitourinary symptoms. Atropine is widely used in the treatment of myopia, amblyopia and organophosphorus poisoning. Recently, scopolamine-induced disease models play an important role in the exploration of the effects of drugs in amnesia, cognitive impairment and neuronal damage. In this review, we aim to summarize the contents of HSA in different Datura species and their influencing factors, performe an overview of the biosynthesis and chemical synthesis pathways and analyze the key synthetase in the NCBI database, highlight the effect of Datura extract and HSA on resisting plant insects and diseases, controlling weeds and treating different kinds of diseases in human.