What does colchicine mean?
Colchicine is a naturally occurring alkaloid — a nitrogen-containing plant compound — obtained from the autumn crocus (meadow saffron), Colchicum autumnale. In medicine it is best known as a treatment for gout, where it relieves the intense joint inflammation caused by urate crystal deposits, and it is also a mainstay therapy for familial Mediterranean fever, an inherited inflammatory disorder. The drug works by interfering with microtubule function in white blood cells, dampening the inflammatory response; this same mechanism makes it valuable in plant breeding and research, where it induces polyploidy. Colchicine's history is remarkable: preparations of the autumn crocus were used against joint pain in ancient Greece, yet the pure compound was only isolated in the nineteenth century and its mechanism elucidated much later. Because the plant itself is highly poisonous, dosing must be precise, and the drug carries a narrow margin between therapeutic and toxic effects. Today it remains an inexpensive, widely prescribed medication whose ancient pedigree and modern utility make it one of pharmacology's most enduring compounds.
nounA bitter alkaloid drug obtained from the autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), used chiefly to treat gout and familial Mediterranean fever by reducing inflammation.
- The purified alkaloid C₂₂H₂₅NO₆ extracted from Colchicum autumnale, used medicinally as an anti-inflammatory agent, especially against gout and familial Mediterranean fever.
- Any of the related alkaloids or preparations containing this compound.
"The rheumatologist prescribed a low daily dose of colchicine to keep the patient's gout attacks under control."
"Because the patient could not tolerate nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, her doctor turned to colchicine for the acute attack."
"Colchicine also disrupts cell division by binding tubulin, which is why researchers use it to induce polyploidy in plants."
Rarely used; colchicine is normally treated as an uncountable mass noun. A plural appears only in technical or pharmaceutical contexts referring to distinct formulations, salts, or dose units of the drug.
"The pharmacy stocked several different colchicines, including the standard tablet and an injectable preparation."
Derived from a poisonous flower so toxic it was allegedly used in poisonings since antiquity, colchicine has been treating gout for over two thousand years — and it still has no true synthetic replacement as effective at stopping an acute attack.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of colchicine
Colchicine takes its name from Colchicum, the botanical genus of the autumn crocus, which in turn derives from Colchis, the ancient region at the eastern end of the Black Sea famed in Greek myth as home to Medea and her knowledge of poisons. The compound was first isolated in pure form in 1820 by the French chemists Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph-Bienaimé Caventou, who coined the modern chemical name. It belongs to the same family of classical medicinal alkaloid names as morphine, quinine, and strychnine, reflecting the nineteenth-century tradition of naming isolated plant principles after their botanical sources.
How colchicine is actually used
Strictly a medical and scientific register word; rarely encountered outside pharmacology, medicine, and horticulture. It is uncountable when referring to the substance generally. The pronunciation with final /-siːn/ (like '-seen') is standard in both British and American English, though some speakers say /-sɪn/.
Easily confused with colchicine
Colchicum is the genus name of the autumn crocus plant from which the drug is extracted, while colchicine is the specific alkaloid compound derived from it.