BACKGROUND
Gelsemium elegans (GE), widely distributed in East Asia, South East Asia and Northern America, is a kind of well-known toxic plant throughout the world. Yet it has been used as a Chinese folk medicine for treatment of malignant tumors, pain, rheumatic arthritis, psoriasis and immune
Gelsemium, a small genus of flowering plant from the family Loganiaceae, comprises five species including the popular Gelsemium sempervirens Ait. and Gelsemium elegans Benth., which are indigenous to North America and China/East Asia, respectively. Approximately 120 alkaloids have been isolated and