New Findings from Natural Substances E-Book
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- Herausgeber: Bentham Science Publishers
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
New Findings from Natural Substances present the state-of-the-art and future prospects for the application of biomolecules in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, food and industrial sectors. The book presents eight reviews contributed by more than twenty experts on interesting natural substances, and plant sources, that serve as sources of natural remedies for a variety of ailments.
The reviews in the book cover the use of herbs like Heliotropium and Astragalus. Additional health benefits of extracts from essential oils, Caenorhabditis elegans, and olive oil, as well as the medicinal use of rosmarinic acid and hydrolates. The contributions highlight a range of pharmacological agents from natural sources that have anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects.
The contents are presented in a simple and organized style. The book will broaden the knowledge about biological products for a variety of readers – generalists, students and researchers, alike.
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Seitenzahl: 379
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2002
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FOREWORD
Giancarlo StattiThe use of a "phytocomplex" instead of a monomolecular drug is what characterizes modern herbal medicine in the field of medical disciplines. The official definition is given by the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) focuses on the use of medicinal plants and their preparations for therapeutic purposes without highlighting any distinction within official medicine.
This concept has always supported the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of numerous diseases. Since prehistoric times, when the casual use of leaves, roots, or seeds had shown useful effects for the healing of wounds, lowering fever or reducing pain, up to Paracelsus who, in the early 1500s, criticized the medical thought of the time and promoted a philosophical vision of nature as the custodian "of the cure for every disease". Paracelsus argued that the healing powers contained in nature had to be found and used, and identified it in plant extracts, containing the "quintessence", the true strength of the medicine capable of healing. With the birth of the scientific thought of Galileo and Newton, a new phase began, where the phytocomplex was gradually replaced by single isolated active ingredients, up to the synthetic pharmaceuticals with the creation of acetylsalicic acid in 1897.
The observation of some iatrogenic reactions and the simultaneous birth of nutraceuticals in 1989, led at the turn of the new millennium to a rediscovery of the preventive and curative power of plant species, first food and then medicinal, much appreciated by an increasing number of "consumers". In turn, this induced the pharmaceutical industry (especially with food supplements) and the whole world of research to focus on the phytochemical and biological characterization of a large number of plant species and phytocomplexes, in full compliance with the original definition of phytotherapy mentioned above.
This has led to an incredible increase in the scientific production that revolves around compounds of natural origin, whose pharmacological aspects have been highlighted, which has at the same time allowed the development of new extraction techniques, on the one hand, and new clinical applications on the other.
The historical passages described above, far from being just a trace of the past, often represent the starting point of a study that finds a basis for the scientific investigation in the traditional uses. In accordance with the principles of modern pharmacology, this has often allowed not only to confirm the therapeutic activity of plants and plant extracts traditionally used in ancient medical treatment but also to expand this use by assigning the spectrum of action of medicaments (phytocomplexes) which are polyfunctional both for their various chemical composition and for the extraordinary biological potential of many natural compounds. An increasing number of studies are aimed at elucidating the activity of isolated compounds, such as flavonoids, alkaloids, or terpenes, but above all phytocomplexes, the joint action of several compounds represents an interesting synergism of action. This means that far from being an interesting but outdated chapter in the history of medicine, phytotherapy is the most widespread therapeutic method in the world at any latitude, so much so that it is part of the strategic program of the World Health Organization "Health for all".
The need to increase the level of scientific development regarding the use of medicinal plants, not only for medical personnel, led to the enormous development of herbal medicine. If we use this term as a keyword on a search engine like Pubmed, we find that almost 6,500 scientific articles are published in indexed journals, and this number becomes triple if the keyword is natural compounds. However, scientific journals often do not have a widespread circulation capable of satisfying the need for dissemination of the great wealth of research produced. In this context, this publication aims to present a path made up of specific examples, which presents the entire (or almost) reference framework on the use of medicinal plants, starting from the path that leads to the traditional use of a plant species such as Heliotropium to have a scientific validation allowing to include it among the most interesting species in the phytochemical field, due to the many traditional uses, but also for the particular phytochemical composition and the potential applications. However, the use of natural compounds is not only limited to phytotherapy. This is the case of essential oils which, depending on their preparation, but above all on the part of the plant used, have different phytocomplexes that lend themselves to different uses, from therapeutic applications (such as in aromatherapy) to food.
Nevertheless, essential oils represent a varied world, made up of many variables and characteristics, both from a phytochemical and a biological point of view. Hence, a lot of research has led essential oils to be evaluated also for more specific therapeutic purposes such as those related to cancer. The model proposed for the application of essential oils to leukemic models is of absolute interest as well as being a replicable model for other cell lines and pharmacological insights.
The individual components of essential oils also proved to be of interest. Rosmarinic acid is presented here, as a compound widely present in many plants and which, due to its phenolic nature, has an interesting spectrum of activity on a wide range of diseases.
Among the biological activities ascribable to many officinal species, the antimicrobial one has particular importance, not only for the validity certified by the wide traditional use but also by numerous studies that have recently led to the characterization of both single active ingredients and phytocomplexes, in which the synergies of action are particularly interesting.
Of course, the study of single compounds (isolated or identified in phytocomplexes) requires important technological insights. An application example is presented here, to demonstrate how new technologies, such as the combination of liquid chromatography (LC) with high resolution mass spectrometry (HR-MS), allow to characterize the important terpenic compounds of the genus Astragalus.
The study of the chemical and chemical-physical characteristics of natural compounds requires rapid, effective and, possibly, inexpensive experimental models. This publication presents the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans model, useful for the evaluation of the antioxidant and neuroprotective activity of compounds and extracts of plant origin.
Finally, a reference to the bioactive compounds present in foods could not be missing. Nutrition is closely related to maintaining good health, thanks to the presence of active ingredients in many foods. Here, olive oil was considered, as it is the subject of numerous studies focusing on the phytochemical composition (mainly fatty acids and polyphenols) and clinical trials assessing its health benefits. The focus on hydroxytyrosol (HTyr) is representative of one of the most relevant compounds with phytotherapeutic activity.
Overall, therefore, this publication stands out as a real guide towards the scientific validation of the use of plant species, compounds and phytocomplexes in phytotherapy.
PREFACE
Plants provide food for a large part of the human population and are an important source of carbohydrates, oils and fats, proteins; in addition, wood and fibers and their derivates obtained by human technological findings are widely used as basic components of our life.
The plant uses come from the past. Since ancient times, humans were able to colonize continents and live in regions having different environmental conditions in which different species of plants were present. Humans learned to use them as foods, tools to survive in the environment and treatment for ailments and health problems with the consequence that different cultures of interaction and use of plants developed and contributed to established practices of traditional medicine. The pharmaceutical properties of plants interested scientists and the progress of science occurred over time, with the consequence that a large number of molecules were identified and characterized. Such molecules, known also as Natural Compounds, were named Secondary Metabolites, mainly present in plant cells and tissues, and playing fundamental roles in plant reproduction and defense from predators and competitors in the environment. With the improvement of science and technology, a large number of plant derived pharmaceuticals have been developed and are presently in the market. Nowadays, a detailed investigation of biodiversity and a careful evaluation and validation of the practices of traditional medicine are associated with an intense research activity in progress in many countries for discovering new plant bioactive molecules potentially useful for new pharmaceuticals for humans, domesticated animals and agriculture.
The study of Natural Substances is an exciting way to learn biology and investigate bioactive molecules for possible applications in different fields. This book, the first of a series of three books, provides a collection of chapters on different plant molecules both in terms of their biological functions in the plant body and applications, especially at the pharmaceutical level, and aims to stimulate further interest in the search for new findings from plants. The chapters are written by leading scientists in their respective fields of interest and provide an up-to date review and future perspectives on each topic. Throughout this book and the other books which will consist of the series, students, teachers, health care practitioners and researchers interested in the study of secondary metabolites will get a useful background for their respective interests.
We wish to thank our colleagues from different universities and countries who encouraged us in the organization of this book and Prof. Giancarlo Statti for the foreword. A special thank also to the Bentham staff, who supported and accompanied us along with the development of the book.
List of Contributors
Heliotropium, an Ethnomedicinal Plant: Past and Present Uses
César Donoso-Fierro1,José Becerra1,2,Claudio Rojas-Leyton1,Claudia Pérez1,2,*Abstract
The genus Heliotropium is formed of herbaceous plants belonging to the family Boraginaceae. In Chile and around the world, many Heliotropium species are commonly used in traditional and complementary medicine to treat various diseases. Members of this genus are also recognized for unique biosynthesized phytochemicals, mainly terpenoids, phenolics and alkaloids. Due to important phyto-constituents, as well as their therapeutic potential, many Heliotropium species have been subjected to chemical, biological and pharmacological investigations. This review details the many ethnomedicinal uses for Heliotropium, with an emphasis on Chilean species, and analyzes their scientific validation based on the chemical constituents and pharmacological properties of Heliotropium reported in academic publications. In addition, we discuss the critical conclusions, as well as some suggestions for future phytochemical and biological studies with Heliotropium species.
