Synonyms--- Sophora japonica (kushen) Root, Sophora flavescens Ait.(kushen) Root, Lighiyellow Sophora Root；Sophora subprostrata (shandougen) Root，Sophora alopecuroides Arial Parts Matrine Chemical Name: matridin-15-one CAS #: 519-02-8 Molecular Formula: C15H24N2O Mol. Wt.: 248.36 Molecular Structure: Oxymatrine Chemical Name: Matridin-15-one,l-oxide.(1＆beta;)- CAS＃： 16837-52-8 Molecular Formula: C15H24N2O2 Mol. Wt.: 246.36 Molecular Structure: Matrine (left) and oxymatrine (right). Sophora is a genus of about 45 species of small trees and shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family, Fabaceae. The species are native to southeast Europe, southern Asia, Australasia, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and western South America. The generic name is derived from sophera, an Arabic name for a pea-flowered tree. Matrine and oxymatrine are the two major alkaloid components found in sophora roots. They are obtained primarily from Sophora japonica (kushen), but also from Sophora subprostrata (shandougen), and from the above ground portion of Sophora alopecuroides. The matrines were first isolated and identified in 1958; they are unique tetracyclo-quinolizindine alkaloids found only in Sophora species thus far. An intensive investigation into the pharmacology and clinical applications of these alkaloids has gone on for the past decade and remains one of the focal points of Chinese medical research. The main clinical applications are treatment of people with cancer, viral hepatitis, cardiac diseases (such as viral myocarditis), and skin diseases (such as psoriasis and eczema). The crude herb and crude hot-water extracts of sophora have been available in the West for more than 25 years. An alkaloid fraction of sophora roots containing a standardized level of oxymatrine and matrine (20%) was first introduced by the Institute for Traditional Medicine, and made available to practitioners in tablet form under the name Oxymatrine (White Tiger) in 1998. It has been used without reported side effects. In China, the alkaloids are often given by injection, but this method of administration is not acceptable in the West, so oral dosing is used here instead. When taken orally, much of the oxymatrine is converted to matrine; to get high blood levels of oxymatrine, it must be given by injection. However, it is unclear whether oxymatrine is clinically more effective than matrine. Chinese researchers have also used the alkaloids in capsule form, with results that appear similar to the injection. Sophora is also administered in complex formulas made as decoctions and taken orally. Sophora japonica contains about a dozen alkaloids, with matrine and oxymatrine being by far the highest, together comprising about 2% of the dried root stock (most of it in the form of oxymatrine), followed by closely related alkaloids: mainly sophocarpine, but also minute amounts of sophoranol, sophoramine, sophoridine, allomatrine, isomatrine, and others. These alkaloids were first reported as constituents of kushen in a series of publications from 1958-1978. An overview of recent research on the pharmacology and clinical applications of the sophora alkaloids is presented below. In general, the dosage of the sophora alkaloids administered clinically is in the range of 400-600 mg per day.