Oxyacanthine

Oxyacanthine at a Glance

Oxyacanthine is a bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid of barberry and Oregon grape root bark, a co-alkaloid of berberine and an isomer of berbamine.

For years it read as a minor curiosity with borrowed pharmacology. Two things have changed that. It is a potent lipoxygenase inhibitor and keratinocyte antiproliferative — three times more active than berberine in the assay that underlies Oregon grape’s use in psoriasis. And in 2025 two independent groups showed that commercial “berbamine” is frequently oxyacanthine, which puts a question mark over an unknown share of the berbamine literature.

Oxyacanthine vs. Berbamine

These two molecules have the same formula, C₃₇H₄₀N₂O₆, and the same mass, 608.7. They differ in where the two diaryl-ether bridges join the halves together and in where the free phenol sits. On a mass spectrum they are indistinguishable; on a thin-layer plate they run close; only NMR or crystallography tells them apart with confidence.

That turned out to matter commercially. In 2025 a group at the Chinese Academy of Sciences bought samples labelled “berbamine” from fourteen suppliers and found that every one of them was oxyacanthine — consistent NMR across all fourteen, confirmed by X-ray crystallography on one. The same paper reports the first full NMR assignment for oxyacanthine and the first crystal structure of genuine berbamine, which they had to isolate from Berberis sieboldii root themselves ^{7Reference 7Cheng Y et al. · 2025Structural similarity in natural products leading to sample misidentification: a case study of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids oxyacanthine and berbamineView study →}. A second group, working independently with microcrystal electron diffraction, resolved two polymorphs of oxyacanthine dihydrochloride monohydrate from samples “mislabelled as berbamine dihydrochloride” ^{13Reference 13Lin J et al. · 2026Discovery of oxyacanthine dihydrochloride monohydrate polymorphs from obfuscated samples by microcrystal electron diffractionView study →}. Two laboratories, two techniques, the same conclusion.

The consequence is not that the berbamine literature is wrong — much of it used material the authors isolated themselves, and the two alkaloids’ activities often run parallel. The consequence is that any result obtained with purchased berbamine now needs its identity checked before it is relied on, and that some of what is credited to berbamine may belong to oxyacanthine.

The 2025 asymmetric total synthesis of both alkaloids settles the chemistry for good: it produced authentic berbamine and authentic oxyacanthine from a common route, and confirmed the misidentification independently ^{8Reference 8Xiang L et al. · 2025In vitroAsymmetric total synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of berbamine, oxyacanthine, and related intermediates — in vitroView study →}.

The Bisbenzylisoquinoline Class

Oxyacanthine is a bisbenzylisoquinoline — two benzylisoquinoline units joined through diaryl ether bridges into a large macrocycle. The chemistry of the family, its biosynthesis and the pharmacology and toxicology its members share are set out on berbamine; the family’s best-studied member is tetrandrine.

The class properties relevant here are the pharmacokinetic ones: bisBIQ alkaloids are poorly water-soluble, poorly absorbed by mouth, strongly plasma-protein-bound and strong P-glycoprotein inhibitors ^{6Reference 6Zhang H et al. · 2021Systematic reviewThirteen bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids in five Chinese medicinal plants: botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics and toxicity — systematic reviewView study →}. The class’s calcium-antagonist cardiovascular reputation belongs mostly to tetrandrine and has never been measured for oxyacanthine.

What It's Used For

Oxyacanthine’s real pharmacology is in the skin. It is one of the two most potent lipoxygenase inhibitors among the Mahonia aquifolium bisbenzylisoquinolines and, with berbamine, a three-fold more potent inhibitor of human keratinocyte growth than berberine — which is the mechanistic case for Oregon grape cream in psoriasis ^{9,10Reference 9Bezáková L et al. · 1996In vitroLipoxygenase inhibition and antioxidant properties of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium — in vitroView study →Reference 10Müller K et al. · 1995In vitroThe antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents; IIView study →}. Beyond that it has a scattering of isolate findings and one borrowed reputation.

Evidence by IndicationStrength of support · Beta

01Psoriasis mechanism (skin)Shaky34%Measured lipoxygenase + keratinocyte data, under a plant with clinical trials ^{9,10,14Reference 9Bezáková L et al. · 1996In vitroLipoxygenase inhibition and antioxidant properties of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium — in vitroView study →Reference 10Müller K et al. · 1995In vitroThe antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents; IIView study →Reference 14Gulliver WP · 2005Clinical trialA report on three recent clinical trials using Mahonia aquifolium 10% topical cream and a review of the worldwide clinical experience with Mahonia aquifolium for the treatment of plaque psoriasis — reviewView study →}

02Anti-inflammatoryShaky28%LPS-macrophage cytokine suppression on authenticated material, plus older comparative work ^{8,4,11Reference 8Xiang L et al. · 2025In vitroAsymmetric total synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of berbamine, oxyacanthine, and related intermediates — in vitroView study →Reference 4Ivanovska N · 1996AnimalStudy on the anti-inflammatory action of Berberis vulgaris root extract, alkaloid fractions and pure alkaloids — animal in vivoView study →Reference 11Küpeli E et al. · 2002AnimalA comparative study on the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antipyretic effects of isoquinoline alkaloids from the roots of Turkish Berberis species — animal in vivoView study →}

03Cardiovascular / smooth-muscleShaky18%bisBIQ class pharmacology, not measured for oxyacanthine ^{2Reference 2Qian JQ · 2002ReviewCardiovascular pharmacological effects of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid derivatives — reviewView study →}

04Urease inhibitionShaky18%One in-vitro isolate study ^{3Reference 3Alamzeb M et al. · 2018In vitroNMR, novel pharmacological and in-silico docking studies of oxyacanthine and tetrandrine: bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Berberis glaucocarpa roots — in vitroView study →}

05Antiviral (derivatives)Shaky16%29 synthetic derivatives with sub-micromolar cell activity; the parent is the scaffold ^{12Reference 12Lu J et al. · 2024In vitroDesign, synthesis, and evaluation of novel oxyacanthine derivatives for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity — in vitroView study →}

Mechanisms

Directly measured for isolated oxyacanthine: lipoxygenase and lipid-peroxidation inhibition, keratinocyte antiproliferation, macrophage cytokine suppression, urease inhibition. The calcium-antagonist row is class-level pharmacology.

Pharmacokinetics

There are no pharmacokinetic studies of oxyacanthine in any species, and it is not among the thirteen bisbenzylisoquinolines with published parameters — so what follows is class inference. As a large dimeric bisBIQ it shares the class profile of poor aqueous solubility, low and variable oral bioavailability, strong plasma-protein binding and strong P-glycoprotein affinity ^{6Reference 6Zhang H et al. · 2021Systematic reviewThirteen bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids in five Chinese medicinal plants: botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics and toxicity — systematic reviewView study →}, and barberry’s alkaloids in general show low oral absorption, with berberine as the reference case ^{1Reference 1Mokhber-Dezfuli N et al. · 2014ReviewPhytochemistry and pharmacology of Berberis species — reviewView study →}.

One indirect measurement exists. When medicinal chemists built oxyacanthine derivatives, they reported “much more improved exposure, longer half-life and increased oral bioavailability” for the best of them compared with oxyacanthine ^{12Reference 12Lu J et al. · 2024In vitroDesign, synthesis, and evaluation of novel oxyacanthine derivatives for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity — in vitroView study →} — which is a statement that the parent’s exposure is poor, made by people who measured it. They also identified its para-methylene-phenol group as a site of likely metabolic activation, the same reactive-intermediate liability described for the class as a whole ^{6,12Reference 6Zhang H et al. · 2021Systematic reviewThirteen bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids in five Chinese medicinal plants: botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics and toxicity — systematic reviewView study →Reference 12Lu J et al. · 2024In vitroDesign, synthesis, and evaluation of novel oxyacanthine derivatives for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity — in vitroView study →}.

In practice, activity from whole-root barberry or Oregon grape preparations is dominated by berberine, not oxyacanthine, and systemic exposure to oxyacanthine from herbal use is presumed low.

Clinical trials

There are no human trials of isolated oxyacanthine for any indication. All human relevance is indirect, through whole Mahonia aquifolium cream in psoriasis ^{14Reference 14Gulliver WP · 2005Clinical trialA report on three recent clinical trials using Mahonia aquifolium 10% topical cream and a review of the worldwide clinical experience with Mahonia aquifolium for the treatment of plaque psoriasis — reviewView study →} and whole barberry root.

Last checked: September 2026.

Isolate vs. Plant Studies

The two sides here fit together better than usual, and the join is still not a proof.

The plant side is the one with human data. Mahonia aquifolium 10% topical cream has been through several clinical trials in plaque psoriasis ^{14Reference 14Gulliver WP · 2005Clinical trialA report on three recent clinical trials using Mahonia aquifolium 10% topical cream and a review of the worldwide clinical experience with Mahonia aquifolium for the treatment of plaque psoriasis — reviewView study →} — whole bark extract, topical, no way to apportion the effect to a single alkaloid.

The isolate side supplies a mechanism that fits it. Both load-bearing experiments compared purified alkaloids side by side against the plant they came from: bark extract inhibited keratinocyte growth at IC50 35 µM, and oxyacanthine and berbamine were three times more potent than the extract or than berberine ^{10Reference 10Müller K et al. · 1995In vitroThe antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents; IIView study →}; and of six purified Mahonia bisBIQs, oxyacanthine and berbamine were the most potent lipoxygenase inhibitors ^{9Reference 9Bezáková L et al. · 1996In vitroLipoxygenase inhibition and antioxidant properties of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium — in vitroView study →}. That is the right shape of evidence — the isolate outperforming the extract in the extract’s own assay.

What is missing is the step that would close it: nobody has applied oxyacanthine to skin, in any species, and measured anything. Its role in the cream’s effect is an inference from potency, and it is shared with berbamine, which is at least as potent and — given the identity problem above — may in some experiments have been the same substance.

Away from the skin, everything is isolate work with no plant counterpart at all: the urease inhibition ^{3Reference 3Alamzeb M et al. · 2018In vitroNMR, novel pharmacological and in-silico docking studies of oxyacanthine and tetrandrine: bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Berberis glaucocarpa roots — in vitroView study →}, the macrophage cytokine suppression ^{8Reference 8Xiang L et al. · 2025In vitroAsymmetric total synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of berbamine, oxyacanthine, and related intermediates — in vitroView study →}, the antiviral derivative series ^{12Reference 12Lu J et al. · 2024In vitroDesign, synthesis, and evaluation of novel oxyacanthine derivatives for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity — in vitroView study →}.

Its Role in Plants

Bisbenzylisoquinoline biosynthesis was worked out in Berberis itself. Berbamunine synthase (CYP80A1), a cytochrome P450 cloned from Berberis stolonifera cell cultures, couples two N-methylcoclaurine units through a carbon–oxygen phenol bond, acting as an oxidase rather than a monooxygenase — it forms the bond without inserting oxygen into the product. Which dimer results depends on which enantiomers the enzyme is given and how it orients them ^{15Reference 15Kraus PF · 1995Molecular cloning and heterologous expression of a cDNA encoding berbamunine synthase, a C–O phenol-coupling cytochrome P450 from the higher plant Berberis stoloniferaView study →}.

That is why a Berberis root accumulates oxyacanthine, berbamine, aromoline, obamegine, baluchistine and aquifoline together ^{9Reference 9Bezáková L et al. · 1996In vitroLipoxygenase inhibition and antioxidant properties of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium — in vitroView study →} rather than one clean product: the same coupling chemistry, run on slightly different substrate pairings and orientations, produces a family of near-identical isomers. The laboratory difficulty of telling oxyacanthine from berbamine is a downstream consequence of the plant making both by the same enzyme.

These alkaloids sit in the root and root bark — the perennial tissue — and the fruit of the same plants is alkaloid-poor and edible. Mahonia alkaloids including oxyacanthine also have measurable antimicrobial activity against oral bacteria ^{16Reference 16Rohrer U et al. · 2007In vitroAntimicrobial activity of Mahonia aquifolium and two of its alkaloids against oral bacteria — in vitroView study →}, consistent with a defensive role for the root alkaloid fraction.

Prevalence in Nature

Bisbenzylisoquinolines occur mainly in the Berberidaceae, Menispermaceae, Monimiaceae and Ranunculaceae ^{6Reference 6Zhang H et al. · 2021Systematic reviewThirteen bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids in five Chinese medicinal plants: botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics and toxicity — systematic reviewView study →}. Oxyacanthine is a Berberidaceae alkaloid, found in the root and root bark of Berberis and Mahonia: Berberis vulgaris (barberry) ^{1,4Reference 1Mokhber-Dezfuli N et al. · 2014ReviewPhytochemistry and pharmacology of Berberis species — reviewView study →Reference 4Ivanovska N · 1996AnimalStudy on the anti-inflammatory action of Berberis vulgaris root extract, alkaloid fractions and pure alkaloids — animal in vivoView study →}, Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon grape) ^{9,10Reference 9Bezáková L et al. · 1996In vitroLipoxygenase inhibition and antioxidant properties of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium — in vitroView study →Reference 10Müller K et al. · 1995In vitroThe antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents; IIView study →}, Berberis glaucocarpa ^{3Reference 3Alamzeb M et al. · 2018In vitroNMR, novel pharmacological and in-silico docking studies of oxyacanthine and tetrandrine: bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Berberis glaucocarpa roots — in vitroView study →}, Berberis asiatica ^{5Reference 5Joshi T et al. · 2021Identification of berbamine, oxyacanthine and rutin from Berberis asiatica as anti-SARS-CoV-2 compounds: an in-silico studyView study →}, Berberis sieboldii ^{7Reference 7Cheng Y et al. · 2025Structural similarity in natural products leading to sample misidentification: a case study of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids oxyacanthine and berbamineView study →}, and the Turkish Berberis species ^{11Reference 11Küpeli E et al. · 2002AnimalA comparative study on the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antipyretic effects of isoquinoline alkaloids from the roots of Turkish Berberis species — animal in vivoView study →}.

It has not been quantified. Barberry root carries roughly 4% total alkaloids, dominated by berberine ^{1Reference 1Mokhber-Dezfuli N et al. · 2014ReviewPhytochemistry and pharmacology of Berberis species — reviewView study →}; oxyacanthine’s own share is described as minor everywhere and published as a percentage nowhere. The commercial supply problem makes that worse rather than better — material sold as an oxyacanthine or berbamine standard cannot be assumed to be what the label says without NMR ^{7,13Reference 7Cheng Y et al. · 2025Structural similarity in natural products leading to sample misidentification: a case study of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids oxyacanthine and berbamineView study →Reference 13Lin J et al. · 2026Discovery of oxyacanthine dihydrochloride monohydrate polymorphs from obfuscated samples by microcrystal electron diffractionView study →}.

Major Natural Sources

Source	Part	Level	Note
Barberry (Berberis vulgaris)	root, root bark	minor within a ~4% total-alkaloid fraction	berberine-dominated; not separately quantified 1,4Reference 1Mokhber-Dezfuli N et al. · 2014ReviewPhytochemistry and pharmacology of Berberis species — reviewView study →Reference 4Ivanovska N · 1996AnimalStudy on the anti-inflammatory action of Berberis vulgaris root extract, alkaloid fractions and pure alkaloids — animal in vivoView study →
Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium)	bark, root	not quantified	one of six bisBIQs isolated from the bark 9Reference 9Bezáková L et al. · 1996In vitroLipoxygenase inhibition and antioxidant properties of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium — in vitroView study →
Berberis glaucocarpa	root	not quantified	source for the urease work 3Reference 3Alamzeb M et al. · 2018In vitroNMR, novel pharmacological and in-silico docking studies of oxyacanthine and tetrandrine: bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Berberis glaucocarpa roots — in vitroView study →
Berberis sieboldii	root	not quantified	source of the authenticated berbamine reference material 7Reference 7Cheng Y et al. · 2025Structural similarity in natural products leading to sample misidentification: a case study of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids oxyacanthine and berbamineView study →
Berberis asiatica	root	not quantified	co-reported with berbamine and rutin 5Reference 5Joshi T et al. · 2021Identification of berbamine, oxyacanthine and rutin from Berberis asiatica as anti-SARS-CoV-2 compounds: an in-silico studyView study →

Discovery & Synthesis

Oxyacanthine is one of the long-established Berberis root alkaloids, described during the nineteenth- and twentieth-century working-out of barberry chemistry; a single first-isolation date and discoverer are not reliably fixed in the accessible record. Two much more recent dates are better documented, and both are 2025: its NMR data were fully assigned for the first time ^{7Reference 7Cheng Y et al. · 2025Structural similarity in natural products leading to sample misidentification: a case study of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids oxyacanthine and berbamineView study →}, and its first asymmetric total synthesis was completed ^{8Reference 8Xiang L et al. · 2025In vitroAsymmetric total synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of berbamine, oxyacanthine, and related intermediates — in vitroView study →}.

That synthesis is the reference point for the molecule now. Berbamine and oxyacanthine were made by a common route using Noyori asymmetric hydrogenation to install the two stereocentres and copper-mediated Ullmann coupling to close the macrocycle ^{8Reference 8Xiang L et al. · 2025In vitroAsymmetric total synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of berbamine, oxyacanthine, and related intermediates — in vitroView study →}. Producing both from one sequence is what let the authors confirm, independently of the crystallography, that the commercial material had been misidentified.

Supply is still extraction. Oxyacanthine is isolated from Berberis or Mahonia root; there is no commercial synthesis and no product containing it as a defined ingredient. Where the isolate has been used as a lead, it has been derivatised — the 29-member antiviral series being the developed example ^{12Reference 12Lu J et al. · 2024In vitroDesign, synthesis, and evaluation of novel oxyacanthine derivatives for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity — in vitroView study →}.

Patents: not yet researched (future patent-loop pass).

Toxicity & Safety

In practice oxyacanthine is not the molecule that determines barberry’s safety — real-world exposure comes from whole root, where berberine’s documented hazards dominate. The isolate itself has essentially no toxicology of its own.

Safety at a Glance

✅ Low / no toxicityCardiac risk

• A minor co-alkaloid with minimal cytotoxicity. The one relevant measurement found only minimal in-vitro cytotoxicity.
• Avoid in pregnancy and lactation. Barberry root is traditionally contraindicated, and bisBIQ alkaloids carry class-level reproductive concern.
• A metabolic-activation liability. Its para-methylene-phenol group is a site of likely bioactivation, and medicinal chemists designed it out of their derivatives.
• Cardioactive class. Bisbenzylisoquinolines show calcium antagonism and negative inotropy, so concentrated systemic exposure carries theoretical cardiovascular and hypotensive potential.
• Berberine dominates the real picture. In whole barberry root it is berberine’s kernicterus risk and CYP3A4/P-gp interactions that matter, not this alkaloid.
• No human exposure data. No isolated toxicology exists for the purified compound.

Full Safety & Interactions Detail

Oxyacanthine is a minor co-alkaloid with essentially no isolated toxicology — the one relevant measurement is minimal in-vitro cytotoxicity ^{3Reference 3Alamzeb M et al. · 2018In vitroNMR, novel pharmacological and in-silico docking studies of oxyacanthine and tetrandrine: bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Berberis glaucocarpa roots — in vitroView study →} — and no human exposure data at all. It sits below tetrandrine, which has real clinical dosing and documented organ accumulation and metabolic activation, none of which is established here.

Three honest caveats are kept without escalating that assessment. The bisbenzylisoquinoline class is cardioactive — calcium antagonism, negative inotropy, hypotension ^{2Reference 2Qian JQ · 2002ReviewCardiovascular pharmacological effects of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid derivatives — reviewView study →} — so meaningful systemic exposure to concentrated oxyacanthine would carry theoretical cardiovascular potential. The class is also bioactivated to reactive intermediates, and for oxyacanthine specifically the para-methylene-phenol group has been identified as the likely site; a medicinal-chemistry programme removed it deliberately when building derivatives ^{6,12Reference 6Zhang H et al. · 2021Systematic reviewThirteen bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids in five Chinese medicinal plants: botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics and toxicity — systematic reviewView study →Reference 12Lu J et al. · 2024In vitroDesign, synthesis, and evaluation of novel oxyacanthine derivatives for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity — in vitroView study →}.

And in an in-vivo comparison of six Berberis alkaloids in mice, all of them induced gastric lesions to varying degrees ^{11Reference 11Küpeli E et al. · 2002AnimalA comparative study on the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antipyretic effects of isoquinoline alkaloids from the roots of Turkish Berberis species — animal in vivoView study →} — a class observation, not an oxyacanthine-specific one, but a real one.

In practice, real-world exposure is via whole barberry or Oregon grape root, where berberine’s own documented hazards — bilirubin–albumin displacement with neonatal kernicterus risk, CYP3A4 and P-gp drug interactions — dominate the safety picture ^{1Reference 1Mokhber-Dezfuli N et al. · 2014ReviewPhytochemistry and pharmacology of Berberis species — reviewView study →}.

Dosage

There is no validated or recommended dose — oxyacanthine is not sold or used as an isolated supplement and has no human dosing precedent. It occurs only as a minor fraction of Berberis and Mahonia root and root-bark alkaloids, within a berberine-dominated total of roughly 4% ^{1Reference 1Mokhber-Dezfuli N et al. · 2014ReviewPhytochemistry and pharmacology of Berberis species — reviewView study →}. The only human exposure with any evidence behind it is topical Mahonia aquifolium 10% cream, in which oxyacanthine is one constituent among many ^{14Reference 14Gulliver WP · 2005Clinical trialA report on three recent clinical trials using Mahonia aquifolium 10% topical cream and a review of the worldwide clinical experience with Mahonia aquifolium for the treatment of plaque psoriasis — reviewView study →}. These are the exposures studied in research and are not a personal recommendation.

References

1. Mokhber-Dezfuli N, Saeidnia S, Gohari AR, et al. (2014). Phytochemistry and pharmacology of Berberis species — review. Pharmacognosy Reviews. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24600191/
2. Qian JQ (2002). Cardiovascular pharmacological effects of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid derivatives — review. Acta Pharmacologica Sinica. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12466045/
3. Alamzeb M, Omer M, Ur-Rashid M, et al. (2018). NMR, novel pharmacological and in-silico docking studies of oxyacanthine and tetrandrine: bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Berberis glaucocarpa roots — in vitro. Journal of Analytical Methods in Chemistry. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29888027/
4. Ivanovska N, Philipov S (1996). Study on the anti-inflammatory action of Berberis vulgaris root extract, alkaloid fractions and pure alkaloids — animal in vivo. International Journal of Immunopharmacology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9080249/
5. Joshi T, Bhat S, Pundir H, et al. (2021). Identification of berbamine, oxyacanthine and rutin from Berberis asiatica as anti-SARS-CoV-2 compounds: an in-silico study. Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34649146/
6. Zhang H, Wang X, Guo Y, et al. (2021). Thirteen bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids in five Chinese medicinal plants: botany, traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacokinetics and toxicity — systematic review. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33166629/
7. Cheng Y, Akramov D, Yakhshilikova L, et al. (2025). Structural similarity in natural products leading to sample misidentification: a case study of the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids oxyacanthine and berbamine. Journal of Natural Products. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39787003/
8. Xiang L, Qin J, Kushatov T, et al. (2025). Asymmetric total synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of berbamine, oxyacanthine, and related intermediates — in vitro. Journal of Natural Products. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41292297/
9. Bezáková L, Misik V, Máleková L, et al. (1996). Lipoxygenase inhibition and antioxidant properties of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids isolated from Mahonia aquifolium — in vitro. Pharmazie. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8941945/
10. Müller K, Ziereis K, Gawlik I (1995). The antipsoriatic Mahonia aquifolium and its active constituents; II. Antiproliferative activity against cell growth of human keratinocytes — in vitro. Planta Medica. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7700998/
11. Küpeli E, Koşar M, Yeşilada E, et al. (2002). A comparative study on the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive and antipyretic effects of isoquinoline alkaloids from the roots of Turkish Berberis species — animal in vivo. Life Sciences. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12467905/
12. Lu J, Cheng Y, Zhang Y, et al. (2024). Design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel oxyacanthine derivatives for anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity — in vitro. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39251112/
13. Lin J, Paz O, Unge J, et al. (2026). Discovery of oxyacanthine dihydrochloride monohydrate polymorphs from obfuscated samples by microcrystal electron diffraction. ChemMedChem. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41388184/
14. Gulliver WP, Donsky HJ (2005). A report on three recent clinical trials using Mahonia aquifolium 10% topical cream and a review of the worldwide clinical experience with Mahonia aquifolium for the treatment of plaque psoriasis — review. American Journal of Therapeutics. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16148424/
15. Kraus PF, Kutchan TM (1995). Molecular cloning and heterologous expression of a cDNA encoding berbamunine synthase, a C–O phenol-coupling cytochrome P450 from the higher plant Berberis stolonifera. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7892226/
16. Rohrer U, Kunz EM, Lenkeit K, et al. (2007). Antimicrobial activity of Mahonia aquifolium and two of its alkaloids against oral bacteria — in vitro. Schweizer Monatsschrift für Zahnmedizin. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18072463/

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