Colchicine in Neurosurgery

Background: Colchicine is an ancient drug. Many uses have been reported in medical books and reports through the centuries. Currently the understanding of its mechanism of action has opened new horizons to its use. Objective: This article aims to discuss the use of colchicine in various neurosurgical conditions. Methods: A pubmed database and clinical trials search was performed, using the key words “colchicine”, “Neurosurgery”, “low back pain”, “stroke” and glioma”. Results: Various reports were found contemplating the use of colchicine in chronic low-back pain. The effect of the drug on neutrophil chemotaxis and its role as an anti-inflammatory agent has been the main argument upon which such use of colchicine has been structured. These characteristics have been the key to initiate colchicine as a preventive agent in vascular conditions. Furthermore, as colchicine is an antimitotic drug, it is currently being studied as a potential anti-glioma agent. However, the narrow therapeutic index of the drug is a discouraging factor in clinical application of colchicine in these entities. Therefore, colchicine derivatives that can exert the same effectiveness in lower doses are being studied, forming a new direction in colchicine use. Conclusion: Colchicine is a drug that over the years has shown promising results in certain neurosurgical entities. Its derivatives or potential colchicine-like agents might have a more significant place in neurosurgical practice.

Agronomical and chemical variability of Colchicum autumnale accessions

Meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale) is an undomesticated plant from whose seeds the alkaloids colchicine and colchicoside are extracted and used pharmaceutically. Research was conducted towards domesticating meadow saffron in which inter- and intra-genetic variability of accessions was studied. Colchicine, 3-demethylcolchicine and colchicoside were assayed in plants of six accessions collected from natural sites in eastern France. These were cultivated at two sites and studied during 1 or 2 yr. Plants from 70 initial transplanted corms of one accession were studied individually for 4 yr to determined intra-accession variability and, as spontaneous vegetative multiplication of corms occurred, comparisons among plants from one initial transplanted corm were also made. For the main characteristics, seed dry weight (SDW) per plant, alkaloid content and colchicine:colchicoside ratio, the inter-accession variability was lower than the intra-accession variability. The results suggest that vegetative propagation of selected genotypes could improve alkaloid content by about 80% and improve SDW per plant by about 300%. Key words: Colchicine, colchicoside, Colchicum autumnale, medicinal plant, genetic variability