Chemical Properties
white or whitish crystalline powder. practically insoluble in water; slightly soluble in ether; freely soluble in ethyl acetate or chloroform; soluble in methanol and ethanol.
History
In the early 1970s of the last century in China, about 300 kinds of effective Chinese
herbal medicines were explored for the treatment of chronic bronchitis, which was
carried out as a national program. Rorifonum was obtained and developed under Rorifonum
this historical condition. Two crystals named rorifonum and rorifamide were
obtained after studies on the chemical components of Rorippa Montana (Wall.)
Small (hancai) by Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. Using elemental analysis,
spectral identification, and mass spectrometry, the chemical structure of these two
compounds was finally determined. Rorifonum and rorifamide are the first discovered sulfone compounds with the effects of relieving cough and eliminating
phlegm.
After a series of pharmacological studies, rorifonum had been proved effective in
the expectorant and antibacterial experiments. Clinical trials also revealed that rorifonum has a certain effect of relieving cough and asthma. Synthetic compound
of rorifonum and natural product have the same effects. However, the pharmacological effect of rorifamide was not obvious. Meanwhile, in order to find a new
drug with higher efficacy and lower toxicity, the researchers synthesized a series of
similar compounds, some of them showing significant expectorant activity in the
animal models.
General Description
Rorifonum is an antichronic bronchitis sulfone derived from Rorippa(Rorippa Montana (Wall.) Small) which is distributed widely in China. The plant has been used as a folk medicine to relieve cough and asthma and also as a mucolytic agent. The results of clinical trials in Shanghai showed that the water decoction of Rorippa Montana (Wall.) Small (hancai) had a certain effect in some kind of chronic bronchitis.
Pharmacology
The pharmacological studies of rorifonum were unsystematic and the specific
mechanism was unknown. At present, only a few pharmacological experiments
were carried out including acute toxicity test, subacute toxicity test, expectorant
test, antitussive experiment, and antibacterial experiment. The expectorant test
with phenol red in mice showed rorifonum had the effect of expectorant, while the
antitussive experiment by sulfur dioxide showed there was no obvious effect.
Clinical Use
Rorifine is mainly used for the treatment of patients with chronic bronchitis at protraction stage. At this stage, the effect of a single drug is weak and should be used in combination with other drugs. At present, the clinical application of rorifonum has been reduced.
