Colchicine is an alkaloid obtained from the plant colchicum autumnale (also known as "meadow saffron"). Colchicine is an alternative medication for those unable to tolerate NSAIDs in gout. Mechanism of action of colchicine is inhibition of microtubule polymerization by binding to tubulin. Availability of tubulin is essential to mitosis, so colchicine effectively unctions as a "mitotic poison" or spindle poison.

Mivobulin is a synthetic water-soluble colchicine analog with the broad antitumor activity that competitively binds tubulin at the colchicine-binding site and inhibits tubulin polymerization. Cancer cells exposed to Mivobulin isethionate accumulate in the M phase of the cell cycle and subsequently die. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that Mivobulin isethionate is able to cross the blood-brain barrier. Importantly, Mivobulin isethionate demonstrated significant antitumor activity in a broad spectrum of murine and human tumor models that were cross-resistant to vincristine, cisplatin, vinblastine, navelbine, and doxorubicin and in tumor cell lines exhibiting multidrug resistance owing to P-glycoprotein overexpression. In animal studies, the activity of Mivobulin isethionate was largely independent of the route of drug administration but favored a prolonged treatment schedule. Unfortunately, in clinical trials, Mivobulin fail to demonstrate the significant activity

Colchiceine, a metabolite of colchicine, commonly used to treat gout, was studied as an effective compound in the model of liver damage.