Colchicine is a medication that treats gout. It is a toxic natural product and secondary metabolite, originally extracted from plants of the genus Colchicum. It was used originally to treat rheumatic complaints, especially gout, and still finds use for these purposes today despite dosing issues concerning its toxicity. It was also prescribed for its cathartic and emetic effects.Several experiments show that the biosynthesis of colchicine involves the amino acids phenylalanine and tyrosine as precursors. Indeed, the feeding of Colchicum autumnale with radioactive amino acid, tyrosine-2-C14, caused the latter to partially incorporate in the ring system of colchicine. The induced absorption of radioactive phenylalanine-2-C14 by Colchicum byzantinum, another plant of the Colchicaceae family, resulted in its efficient absorption by colchicine.
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