Ethnopharmacology of Medicinal Plants: Asia and the Pacific / Edition 1

by Christophe Wiart

Overview

In 1860, Oliver Wendell Holmes pointedly expressed himself to the Massachusetts Medical Society: “I firmly believe that if the whole Material Medica, as now used, could be sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be all the better for mankind, and all the worst for the fishes.” Should one think the same about the current approach in drug discovery from plants? Probably yes. Despite the spending of billions of US dollars, and three decades of efforts, high-throughput screenings have only allowed the discovery of a couple of drugs. One could have reasonably expected the discovery of an arsenal of drugs from the millions of plant extracts randomly tested, but “hits” can be inactive in vitro or too toxic, some molecules need to be metabolized first to be active, and false-positive and false-negative results are common. The bitter truth is that the robotic approach in discovering drugs from plants has proven, to date, its inability to excavate the hundreds of molecules that will contribute to the health progress of Man. However, one can reasonably see that the last patches of primary rainforest on earth hold still hundreds of spectacularly active drugs that await discovery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781588297488
Publisher:	Springer-Verlag New York, LLC
Publication date:	09/01/2006
Edition description:	2007
Pages:	228
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.02(d)

Table of Contents

1. Anti-Inflammatory Plants. 1.1. General Concept. 1.2. Inhibitors of Phospholipase A2. 1.3. Inhibitors of Cyclooxygenase. 1.4. Inhibitors of Lipoxygenases. 1.5. Inhibitors of Elastase. 1.6. Inhibitors of Nitric Oxide Synthetase. 1.7. Conclusion and Future Prospects. 1.8. References. 2. Plant Affecting the Central Nervous System. 2.1. General Concept. 2.2. Plants Affecting the Serotoninergic Neurotransmission. 2.3. Plants Affecting the GABAergic Neurotransmission. 2.4. Plants Interfering with the Glycinergic System. 2.5. Plants Affecting the Dopaminergic Neurotransmission. 2.6. Conclusion and Future Prospect. 2.7. References. 3. Plants for Chemotherapy of Neoplastic Diseases. 3.1. General Concept. 3.2. Topoisomerase Inhibitors. 3.3. Apoptosis. 3.4. Summary and Future Prospects. 3.5. References.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Stata Norton, PhD (University of Kansas Medical Center)
Description: This book contains brief descriptions and evaluations of some active ingredients and the medicinal uses of about 100 plants found in Asia, especially in countries on the Pacific Rim. The plants selected are some that have shown evidence, reported in the scientific literature, of containing medically active ingredients and that therefore may be sources of new therapeutic drugs.
Purpose: The stated purpose is to show the rich source of potential drugs in the estimated 6,000 plant species in Asia in which the pharmacologic activities of the chemicals in the plants have not been thoroughly tested experimentally. The author has selected plants for which there is published evidence that the plants contain ingredients that act in three therapeutic areas: as anti-inflammatory agents; as agents affecting the central nervous system; or as chemotherapeutic agents in neoplasia. This objective is met, given that the review is limited to a few of the many plant species in the region.
Audience: The author points out that the information available on the plants is enough only to suggest that further investigation of clinical potential is warranted and these plants may have potential as clinically useful drugs. Therefore the book is primarily directed at individuals involved in research on new types of chemical molecules for treating inflammatory conditions, central nervous system disorders, or cancers.
Features: A unique feature of the book is the emphasis on similar chemicals found in some plant families, such as the frequent production of anti-inflammatory sesquiterpenes by members of the family Asteraceae. Line drawings of characteristic plants and molecular structures of primary chemicals are presented. Within each of the three therapeutic areas, the plants are organized according to type of action: inhibitors of cytochrome oxidases, inhibitors of lipoxygenases, inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase for plants with anti-inflammatory actions, with similar organization by mechanism of action for the other two.
Assessment: The analysis of biochemical activities of plants by family and the line drawings of plants and their chemical components are aspects of herbal therapeutics that are not often brought together. Adequate references to the scientific literature are given for each plant. The text has been poorly edited for minor errors, but this does not affect the usefulness of the data.

Doody's Review Service

From the reviews:

"This book contains brief descriptions and evaluations of some active ingredients and the medicinal uses of about 100 plants found in Asia … . The stated purpose is to show the rich source of potential drugs in the estimated 6,000 plant species in Asia … . This objective is met … . A unique feature of the book is the emphasis on similar chemicals found in some plant families … . Adequate references to the scientific literature are given for each plant." (Stata Norton, Doody’s Book Review Service, January, 2007)

"This book presents several aspects of the pharmacology, chemistry, botany and folkloric use of selected medicinal plants that can be found in Asia and the Pacific. It is generously illustrated with line drawings for many of the plants under discussion, as well as examples of chemical structures. … The book is organized into three chapters … . This book should be of interest to academic, industrial or government scientists with an interest in the potential of the regional flora for drug discovery." (James Graham, Phytomedicine, Vol. 15, 2008)

From the Publisher