skin infections (10). In recent years, a preparation from this plant, obtained by cooking the root powder in water, followed by filtration and precipitation from a NaC1 solution, has shown therapeutic effects in treating dysentery in over 500 patients. In clinical trials, the length of treatment was significantly shorter, and side-effects were milder, when compared to berberine. Animal toxicity tests of this preparation indicated a LD50 of 34 mg/kg in rats. Jatrorrhizine was subsequently isolated from this preparation as a major component (ca. 0.5 % plant weight), and identified by direct compaiison with an authentic sample (co-TLC, NMR, MS). Jatrorrhizine has been found in many Mahonia plants (11), but this is the first report of its occurrence in M. bealei. In our hands, the alkaloid was toxic to P388 cells (ED50 2.0 g/ml) and the brine shrimps (LD50 0.2 p.g/ml), but was inactive in antibacterial assays against F. coli, Streptococcus aureus, or Bacillus subtilis, at concentrations up to 100 .tg/ml.

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