Dehydrocorydaline

Dehydrocorydaline at a Glance

Dehydrocorydaline (DHC) is a quaternary protoberberine alkaloid from the tuber of corydalis (Corydalis yanhusuo), the Chinese medicinal herb best known as a natural analgesic. Chemically it is the fully aromatised, permanently charged counterpart of corydaline — a flat, berberine-like cation rather than the folded, CNS-type amine of the saturated alkaloids.

Among corydalis’s many alkaloids, DHC has one of the deepest preclinical files. It is reported to account for the majority of the rhizome’s anti-inflammatory effect in cultured macrophages ^{1Reference 1Kong Y et al. · 2020Dehydrocorydaline accounts the majority of anti-inflammatory property of Corydalis Rhizoma in cultured macrophageView study →}, and it is one of the alkaloids driving corydalis’s antinociceptive (pain-relieving) reputation, acting through opioid receptors, voltage-gated sodium channels and a shift in spinal microglia ^{2,3,4Reference 2Yin ZY et al. · 2016AnimalAntinociceptive effects of dehydrocorydaline in mouse models of inflammatory pain involve the opioid receptor and inflammatory cytokinesView study →Reference 3Xu Y et al. · 2021Analgesic effect of the main components of Corydalis yanhusuo (yanhusuo) is caused by inhibition of voltage gated sodium channelsView study →Reference 4Huo W et al. · 2018Dehydrocorydaline attenuates bone cancer pain by shifting microglial M1/M2 polarization toward the M2 phenotypeView study →}. Separate lines of work report cardioprotective, anti-cancer, antidepressant-like and anti-Helicobacter activity.

The load-bearing caveat is that all of this is preclinical — cell and rodent studies of the isolated molecule, with no human trials — and DHC shares the protoberberine family’s defining weakness: as a quaternary cation it is poorly absorbed by mouth ^{13Reference 13Li W et al. · 2014AnimalLC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extractView study →}, which tempers how much the in-vitro potency should be read across to a person taking the herb.

Dehydrocorydaline vs. Corydaline

The single most useful thing to understand about this molecule is what separates it from its saturated namesake, corydaline — because the difference is the difference between two whole classes of corydalis alkaloid.

Corydaline is a tetrahydroprotoberberine (THPB). Its central ring system is saturated and non-planar, and it carries a basic, protonatable tertiary nitrogen — the same folded, lipophilic, CNS-penetrant shape as the herb’s flagship tetrahydropalmatine (l-THP). This tertiary-amine architecture is what lets the THPB alkaloids reach the brain and engage dopamine receptors.

Dehydrocorydaline is what corydaline becomes when that ring is oxidised and aromatised. Removing the extra hydrogens flattens the scaffold into a fully conjugated, planar ring system and converts the nitrogen into a permanently charged quaternary ammonium cation. The molecule is no longer a THPB at all — it is a protoberberine, in the same structural class as berberine, palmatine and coptisine. In fact DHC is essentially 13-methylpalmatine: palmatine’s 2,3,9,10-tetramethoxy protoberberine cation bearing one extra methyl group at C-13.

That oxidation flips the pharmacology’s centre of gravity:

• Corydaline (THPB) — a lipophilic, brain-penetrant, dopamine-active amine; a CNS-type alkaloid.
• Dehydrocorydaline (protoberberine) — a flat, water-loving, poorly-absorbed cation whose reported activities (macrophage anti-inflammation, opioid/ion-channel antinociception, NF-κB suppression, poor oral bioavailability) read like the berberine-family playbook, not the THPB one.

This is why DHC belongs on the compound map next to berberine and palmatine rather than next to l-THP, and why its standout roles in corydalis are as an anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive marker rather than a sedative — the very roles the sections below examine.

What It's Used For

DHC’s evidence base is entirely preclinical, but it is unusually multi-target for a single plant alkaloid, and it splits cleanly by application. The recurring discipline is the same one that applies to its cousins: nearly every result is the isolated molecule at a defined injected or oral dose, so it reports what DHC can do in a dish or a mouse, not what the tuber does in a person.

Evidence by IndicationStrength of support · Beta

Support is an experimental score — weighted by study type (human > animal > in vitro) and volume. A beta, not a validated metric. Every row here is preclinical isolate data with no human trials, so scores stay modest by design; read the per-row basis.

01Analgesic / AntinociceptiveShaky42%Multiple rodent isolate pain models; opioid + Nav1.7 + microglial mechanisms ^{2,3,4,5,16Reference 2Yin ZY et al. · 2016AnimalAntinociceptive effects of dehydrocorydaline in mouse models of inflammatory pain involve the opioid receptor and inflammatory cytokinesView study →Reference 3Xu Y et al. · 2021Analgesic effect of the main components of Corydalis yanhusuo (yanhusuo) is caused by inhibition of voltage gated sodium channelsView study →Reference 4Huo W et al. · 2018Dehydrocorydaline attenuates bone cancer pain by shifting microglial M1/M2 polarization toward the M2 phenotypeView study →Reference 5Hou X et al. · 2025Analgesic effect of dehydrocorydaline on chronic constriction injury-induced neuropathic pain via alleviating neuroinflammationView study →Reference 16Dehghani M et al. · 2025ReviewDehydrocorydaline can be a suitable candidate for analgesic purposes: a review on the current preclinical evidenceView study →}

02Anti-InflammatoryShaky40%Isolate accounts for majority of rhizome’s macrophage effect; NF-κB ^{1Reference 1Kong Y et al. · 2020Dehydrocorydaline accounts the majority of anti-inflammatory property of Corydalis Rhizoma in cultured macrophageView study →}

03CardioprotectiveShaky30%Rodent ischaemia-reperfusion (FoxO) + sepsis myocardial injury (TRAF6/NF-κB) ^{11,12Reference 11Li H et al. · 2025Dehydrocorydaline attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury via the FoxO signalling pathway: a multimodal study based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental studyView study →Reference 12Li Y et al. · 2021Dehydrocorydaline protects against sepsis-induced myocardial injury through modulating the TRAF6/NF-κB pathwayView study →}

04Anticancer (Breast, In Vitro)Shaky24%MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell apoptosis / anti-tumorigenesis only ^{8,9Reference 8Xu Z et al. · 2012Dehydrocorydaline inhibits breast cancer cells proliferation by inducing apoptosis in MCF-7 cellsView study →Reference 9Huang Y et al. · 2020Dehydrocorydaline inhibits the tumorigenesis of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cellsView study →}

05Antidepressant-LikeShaky24%Single rodent CUMS model; uptake-2 transporter inhibition ^{6Reference 6Jin GL et al. · 2019AnimalDehydrocorydaline induced antidepressant-like effect in a chronic unpredictable mild stress mouse model via inhibiting uptake-2 monoamine transportersView study →}

06Anti-H. pylori / GastroprotectiveShaky22%In-vitro MIC + mouse gastroprotection ^{10Reference 10Wu H et al. · 2023Gastroprotective action of the extract of Corydalis yanhusuo in Helicobacter pylori infection and its bioactive component, dehydrocorydalineView study →}

Mechanisms

The unifying thread is suppression of inflammatory signalling (NF-κB in macrophages, spinal microglia and cardiomyocytes), layered on top of a separate ion-channel/opioid analgesic mechanism and a distinct presynaptic glutamate-release brake ^{7Reference 7Lin TY et al. · 2022AnimalInhibition of glutamate release from rat cortical nerve terminals by dehydrocorydaline, an alkaloid from Corydalis yanhusuoView study →} — several downstream effects from a small number of upstream actions.

Pharmacokinetics

DHC’s pharmacokinetics are the crux of the reality check. As a permanently charged quaternary protoberberine cation, it behaves like berberine and palmatine: poorly absorbed by mouth and low in oral bioavailability. A validated LC-MS/MS study tracked DHC in rat plasma after oral dosing of pure DHC versus a corydalis extract, and found DHC from the extract was absorbed faster and eliminated more slowly than the pure compound — attributed to co-occurring P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitors and other alkaloids competing for P-gp transport, CYP450 metabolism and plasma-protein binding ^{13Reference 13Li W et al. · 2014AnimalLC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extractView study →}. Metabolite mapping in rat plasma and bile identified 18 metabolites via O-demethylation, hydroxylation, glucuronidation and sulfation, with biliary excretion dominant ^{14Reference 14Guan H et al. · 2017AnimalIdentification of metabolites of the cardioprotective alkaloid dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma and bile by liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometryView study →}. Two consequences follow: (1) the herb matrix meaningfully changes DHC’s exposure, so isolate PK understates what the tuber delivers; and (2) in-vitro concentrations that kill cancer cells or bacteria are unlikely to be reached in plasma after oral herb, which is why the isolate potency must not be over-read.

Clinical Trials

There are no clinical trials of isolated dehydrocorydaline. The entire evidence base is in-vitro and rodent work on the pure alkaloid, with human exposure occurring only indirectly through corydalis preparations, which are studied (sparingly) as whole extracts standardised to total alkaloids rather than to DHC.

Last checked: July 2026.

Isolate vs. Plant Studies

DHC sits at an unusual point on the isolate-vs-plant axis. Almost all of its evidence is the purified molecule — injected or oral DHC at defined doses in cells and rodents ^{2,3,4,6,8,9Reference 2Yin ZY et al. · 2016AnimalAntinociceptive effects of dehydrocorydaline in mouse models of inflammatory pain involve the opioid receptor and inflammatory cytokinesView study →Reference 3Xu Y et al. · 2021Analgesic effect of the main components of Corydalis yanhusuo (yanhusuo) is caused by inhibition of voltage gated sodium channelsView study →Reference 4Huo W et al. · 2018Dehydrocorydaline attenuates bone cancer pain by shifting microglial M1/M2 polarization toward the M2 phenotypeView study →Reference 6Jin GL et al. · 2019AnimalDehydrocorydaline induced antidepressant-like effect in a chronic unpredictable mild stress mouse model via inhibiting uptake-2 monoamine transportersView study →Reference 8Xu Z et al. · 2012Dehydrocorydaline inhibits breast cancer cells proliferation by inducing apoptosis in MCF-7 cellsView study →Reference 9Huang Y et al. · 2020Dehydrocorydaline inhibits the tumorigenesis of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cellsView study →} — which is the norm for a corydalis alkaloid and means the findings describe the isolate, not the decoction. But DHC also supplies one of the cleaner isolate-explains-plant results in the corydalis literature: in cultured macrophages the isolated alkaloid reproduced the majority of the whole rhizome’s anti-inflammatory effect ^{1Reference 1Kong Y et al. · 2020Dehydrocorydaline accounts the majority of anti-inflammatory property of Corydalis Rhizoma in cultured macrophageView study →}, so here the isolate genuinely stands in for the plant. The pharmacokinetic work reinforces the caveat in the other direction — DHC’s exposure is higher from the extract than from the pure compound because of co-alkaloids and P-gp effects ^{13Reference 13Li W et al. · 2014AnimalLC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extractView study →}, so even the isolate PK understates the herb. Two scope notes belong on any corydalis-alkaloid page: the herb’s alkaloid content varies enormously between commercial batches, and a subset of “corydalis” anti-inflammatory results actually used Corydalis decumbens, a different species from C. yanhusuo — keep those distinct.

Prevalence in Nature

Dehydrocorydaline is a characteristic quaternary protoberberine alkaloid of corydalis (Corydalis yanhusuo, Papaveraceae/Fumariaceae) tuber, where it is prominent enough to serve as an HPLC quality marker in pharmacopoeial-style fingerprinting of the herb ^{15Reference 15Zhang Y et al. · 2020Optimization of the extraction and purification of Corydalis yanhusuo W.TView study →}. It co-occurs with the herb’s other protoberberines — corydaline, palmatine, coptisine — and with the tetrahydroprotoberberine and aporphine alkaloids that make up the rest of the tuber’s complex alkaloid profile.

Reported DHC content varies widely with plant source, harvest, and especially processing and what is measured: an enriched/purified corydalis product ran about 13% DHC as one of eight quality markers ^{15Reference 15Zhang Y et al. · 2020Optimization of the extraction and purification of Corydalis yanhusuo W.TView study →}, whereas figures for raw rhizome are lower and inconsistent between analyses. The molecule is also reported from other Corydalis species. A precise, well-replicated raw-rhizome percentage is not established — that hole is logged in this compound’s gaps tracker rather than guessed at here.

Discovery & Synthesis

Dehydrocorydaline was isolated from the tubers of corydalis (Corydalis yanhusuo / Rhizoma corydalis) as one of the plant’s characteristic quaternary protoberberine alkaloids, and it takes its name from corydaline — DHC is the dehydrogenated (oxidised, aromatised) form of that saturated alkaloid, equivalent to 13-methylpalmatine. It is handled in the lab and commerce chiefly as a salt (for example the nitrate). A dedicated total synthesis is not well documented; the compound is obtained by extraction and chromatographic isolation from corydalis, and preparative supply for research is likewise extraction-based rather than synthetic. Its place in the protoberberine family — the same class as berberine, palmatine, canadine’s oxidised relatives and coptisine — reflects a shared biosynthetic origin in the benzylisoquinoline alkaloid pathway.

Patents: not yet researched.

Toxicity & Safety

DHC carries a low flag, consistent with its protoberberine relatives — but the flag rests on absence of evidence of harm and limited exposure, not on a characterised safety dataset. There is no human toxicology for the isolated molecule, and its risk in practice is blunted by the same poor oral absorption that limits its efficacy: as a quaternary cation, little is absorbed intact ^{13Reference 13Li W et al. · 2014AnimalLC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extractView study →}.

Two caveats keep it from being dismissed as inert. First, DHC is pharmacologically active on cardiac-relevant ion channels — the same voltage-gated sodium-channel activity that underlies its analgesia was noted, in the head-to-head corydalis study, to give DHC a less favourable cardiac-risk profile than tetrahydropalmatine ^{3Reference 3Xu Y et al. · 2021Analgesic effect of the main components of Corydalis yanhusuo (yanhusuo) is caused by inhibition of voltage gated sodium channelsView study →} — so its cardioprotective billing should not be read as a blanket cardiac-safety claim. Second, its pharmacokinetics implicate P-glycoprotein and CYP450 ^{13,14Reference 13Li W et al. · 2014AnimalLC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extractView study →Reference 14Guan H et al. · 2017AnimalIdentification of metabolites of the cardioprotective alkaloid dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma and bile by liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometryView study →}, the classic substrates/handles for herb–drug interactions, so co-administration with drugs that depend on those pathways is a theoretical interaction worth flagging.

Safety at a Glance

✅ Low / no toxicityDrug interactions

• Poorly absorbed quaternary cation. Low oral bioavailability sharply limits systemic exposure from the herb, which also limits systemic toxicity ^{13Reference 13Li W et al. · 2014AnimalLC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extractView study →}.
• No human safety data. All toxicity inference is extrapolated from cell/rodent work on the isolate; safety in people is simply uncharacterised.
• Cardiac ion-channel activity. DHC modulates voltage-gated sodium channels and was rated less cardiac-favourable than l-THP among corydalis alkaloids — cardioprotective preclinical data do not equal proven cardiac safety ^{3Reference 3Xu Y et al. · 2021Analgesic effect of the main components of Corydalis yanhusuo (yanhusuo) is caused by inhibition of voltage gated sodium channelsView study →}.
• P-gp / CYP450 interaction potential. Its absorption and metabolism run through P-glycoprotein and cytochrome P450, a theoretical route to herb–drug interactions ^{13,14Reference 13Li W et al. · 2014AnimalLC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extractView study →Reference 14Guan H et al. · 2017AnimalIdentification of metabolites of the cardioprotective alkaloid dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma and bile by liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometryView study →}.

Pregnancy and lactation are a per-herb / per-supplement decision and are not adjudicated on this molecule page; no isolate-specific human reproductive data exist for dehydrocorydaline, and no verdict is issued here.

Dosage

There is no established or recommended human dose for isolated dehydrocorydaline — it has never been given as a stand-alone drug in a clinical trial. Cited efficacy figures are rodent research doses, typically in the single-digit-to-low-tens of mg/kg by injection or by mouth, and they do not convert to human self-dosing. Human exposure is indirect: DHC is one alkaloid among many in corydalis tuber preparations, which are standardised (when at all) to total alkaloids rather than to DHC, and batch alkaloid content varies widely ^{15Reference 15Zhang Y et al. · 2020Optimization of the extraction and purification of Corydalis yanhusuo W.TView study →}. Because DHC is poorly absorbed orally ^{13Reference 13Li W et al. · 2014AnimalLC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extractView study →}, the fraction reaching the circulation from a herbal dose is small. These are doses studied in research and are not a personal recommendation.

References

1. Kong Y, et al. (2020). Dehydrocorydaline accounts the majority of anti-inflammatory property of Corydalis Rhizoma in cultured macrophage. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33299450/
2. Yin ZY, et al. (2016). Antinociceptive effects of dehydrocorydaline in mouse models of inflammatory pain involve the opioid receptor and inflammatory cytokines. Scientific Reports. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27272194/
3. Xu Y, et al. (2021). Analgesic effect of the main components of Corydalis yanhusuo (yanhusuo) is caused by inhibition of voltage gated sodium channels. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34329712/
4. Huo W, et al. (2018). Dehydrocorydaline attenuates bone cancer pain by shifting microglial M1/M2 polarization toward the M2 phenotype. Molecular Pain. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29882480/
5. Hou X, et al. (2025). Analgesic effect of dehydrocorydaline on chronic constriction injury-induced neuropathic pain via alleviating neuroinflammation. Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39762501/
6. Jin GL, et al. (2019). Dehydrocorydaline induced antidepressant-like effect in a chronic unpredictable mild stress mouse model via inhibiting uptake-2 monoamine transporters. European Journal of Pharmacology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31604070/
7. Lin TY, et al. (2022). Inhibition of glutamate release from rat cortical nerve terminals by dehydrocorydaline, an alkaloid from Corydalis yanhusuo. Molecules. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35164225/
8. Xu Z, et al. (2012). Dehydrocorydaline inhibits breast cancer cells proliferation by inducing apoptosis in MCF-7 cells. The American Journal of Chinese Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22298457/
9. Huang Y, et al. (2020). Dehydrocorydaline inhibits the tumorigenesis of breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. Molecular Medicine Reports. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32377708/
10. Wu H, et al. (2023). Gastroprotective action of the extract of Corydalis yanhusuo in Helicobacter pylori infection and its bioactive component, dehydrocorydaline. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36681166/
11. Li H, et al. (2025). Dehydrocorydaline attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury via the FoxO signalling pathway: a multimodal study based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental study. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39222757/
12. Li Y, et al. (2021). Dehydrocorydaline protects against sepsis-induced myocardial injury through modulating the TRAF6/NF-κB pathway. Frontiers in Pharmacology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34489703/
13. Li W, et al. (2014). LC-MS/MS determination and pharmacokinetic study of dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma after oral administration of dehydrocorydaline and Corydalis yanhusuo extract. Molecules. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25314597/
14. Guan H, et al. (2017). Identification of metabolites of the cardioprotective alkaloid dehydrocorydaline in rat plasma and bile by liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole linear ion trap mass spectrometry. Molecules. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28994724/
15. Zhang Y, et al. (2020). Optimization of the extraction and purification of Corydalis yanhusuo W.T. Wang based on the Q-marker uniform design method. BMC Chemistry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32055800/
16. Dehghani M, et al. (2025). Dehydrocorydaline can be a suitable candidate for analgesic purposes: a review on the current preclinical evidence. Molecular Pain. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40913244/

View all 16 references▾