Antitumor effect of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids.

Twenty-three kinds of bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids including tetrandrine, isotetrandrine, and berbamine were studied on various biological activities. We made comparisons in biological activities, for examples, on bacterial cells, blood cells, tumor cells, and in the whole mouse, in order to obtain better suggestion concerning the correlation between activity and chemical structure. From the results of the present investigation, it is suggested that at the present stage a definite structure-activity relationship, as reported by Kupchan, et al., is hardly delineated, though certain structure requirements for the manifestation of the antitumor activities were noticed.