Benjamin Gilbert
Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology-Farmanguinhos, Brazil
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: Nat Prod Chem Res
The scientific literature often refers to the active principal of a medicinal plant. However, a number of workers have found that this active principal does not reproduce the activity of the original extract in terms of the dose present. In several cases, it has been shown that two or more active substances can be identified and that there are also substances present that facilitate passage through membranes, resistance to metabolism by cytochromes and other defensive substances in the host organism or in the pathogenic parasite or microorganism responsible for disease. Multidrug resistance inhibitors have also been identified which distinguish the integral natural medicine, valid indefinitely from its isolated active component which often suffers a progressive decline in activity over time. Examples, mainly from medicinal plants used in South America include Bauhinia (diabetes type 2) and Passiflora species (anxiety and mental dysfunctions), Cordia verbenacea (inflammation), Bidens pilosa (malaria and hepatitis). Standardization of a plant extract by analysis of a single substance has proven to be inadequate in several cases as a result of this dependence of pharmacological action on multiple components.
Email: benjamingilbert1@gmail.com
