Corydalis saxicola Bunting, with the local name yan-huang-lian, is a perennial herbaceous plant which belongs to the Fumariaceae family and only grows in limestone hills, distributed in Southern China. It is beneficial in antibacterial, acesodyne, detumescence and antipsychotic. It is also applied in the treatment of hepatitis and hepatocirrhosis. Dehydrocavidine and berberine are the major bioactive components. Alkaloids extracted from C. saxicola are utilized in the production Injection to treat hepatitis, hepatocirrhosis and liver cancer.
Dehydrocavidine, dehydroapocavidine, dehydroisoapocavidine, berberine, dehydroisocorypalmine, coptisine, tetradehydroscoulerine, berbinium, 1-formyl-5-methoxy-6-methylindoline, and 1-formyl-2-hydroxy-5-methoxy-6-methylindoline were isolated from the MeOH extracts of the herb Corydalis saxicola Bunting (Papaveraceae). Dehydrocavidine, dehydroapocavidine, and dehydroisoapocavidine exhibited inhibitory activity against HBsAg and HBeAg, but no cytotoxicity against the 2.2.15 cell line.