Importance of Colchicum species in modern therapy and its significance in Turkey

Abstract

Colchicum species, which are widely used as medication for many years, still remain important in treatment. Some of them are cultivated to be used for pharmaceutical industry. Tropolone alkaloids content of the species help in the treatment of FMF, gout, amyloidosis, cirrhosis, Behcet's disease, psoriasis, Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloid leukemia and skin cancers. An economic and efficient synthesis method of Colchicum alkaloids haven't found yet, that's why colchicine and other alkaloids are obtained from plant source by extraction. The wide variety of Colchicum species in Turkey lead the researchers to investigate new sources of Colchicum rich in tropolone alkaloids. In our department, Colchicum species have been studied for more than 45 years and the contents and biological activities of the Colchicum species growing in our country are continuing to be studied today. This review was performed to summarize the investigations on Colchicum species in the world and to emphasize its importance in Turkey.