Secondary Compounds and Medicinal Plants Spring 2012

Lecture Outline I. A brief history of medicinal plants II. Plants in modern medicine A. Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) as a heart remedy B. The fever bark tree (Cinchona ledgeriana) and quinine as a remedy for malaria C. Willow bark (Salix spp.) and aspirin D. Plant-based cancer drugs III. Herbal remedies A. Ephedra B. St. Johnswort C. Ginkgo biloba

A Brief History of Medicinal Plants Apuleius, Herbal, 11th century, c England, St. Augustine's abbey, Canterbury

Code of Hammurabi, King of Babylon, 1770 B.C. The code mentions medicinal plants that are still in use today, including licorice and mint.

The Ebers Papyrus Egypt, 1550 B.C. 700 medicinal formulas, including mandrake for pain relief, cannabis, and aloe.

Dioscorides, 1st century A.D.

Anaesthetics mentioned in Dioscorides’s Materia Medica

Plates from a 12th century edition of Materia Medica

Ps. Apuleius, Herbal, 11th century, c England, St. Augustine's abbey, Canterbury

Doctrine of Signatures Paracelsus

Plants in Modern Medicine Foxglove: Digitalis purpurea (Snapdragon Family)

William Withering An Account of the Foxglove and Some of Its Medical Uses: With Practical Remarks on Dropsy and Other Diseases, 1785

The glycosides digitoxin and digitalis were isolated. These have been determined to have a strong effect on the heart muscle.

Congestive Heart Failure

Digitalis purpurea Foxglove

2-3 million people die each year from malaria (at least 1 million deaths are young children). Malaria Map of Malaria-Endemic Areas from CDC

Malaria

Malaria statistics are chilling: nearly 1 million people die from malaria each year in Africa alone, mostly children younger than 5 years old. Which one of the following causes malaria? A. breathing air from swamps B. Anopheles mosquitoes C. Plasmodium protozoans D. living in tropical regions E. a sexually-transmitted virus Clicker Question

Anopheles mosquito Plasmodium falciparum

Mid-17 th century Jesuit missionaries in South America discovered that indigenous peoples used a remedy made from the bark of cinchona, a tree in the coffee family. The Incans called it quina, from whence we get quinine.

Cinchona calisaya Fever Tree (Rubiaceae - the coffee family)

Cinchona bark, ground to make “Jesuit Powder.” Oliver Cromwell, died of malaria in 1658

Quinine, an alkaloid, the active ingredient in cinchona. It kills the parasite in the bloodstream.

Salix alba L. Aspirin The most widely used medicine in the world:

Plant-Based Cancer Drugs

Rosy Periwinkle - (Catharanthus roseus), effective in the treatment of childhood leukemia

Mitosis - cell division mitotic spindle

Pacific Yew, Taxus brevifolia, a potent anti-tumorogenic Taxol

Medicinal Plants on the Fringe: Dietary Supplements and Herbal Medicine

Ephedra antisyphilitica clapweed, whorehouse tea, Mormon tea

Ephedra, source of ephedra, or ma-huang

FDA News FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 6, 2004 FDA Issues Regulation Prohibiting Sale of Dietary Supplements Containing Ephedrine Alkaloids and Reiterates Its Advice That Consumers Stop Using These Products

St. Johnswort

(Linde et al. British Medical Journal, 1996) St. Johnswort, effective in the treatment of minor depression

herbal supplement (increases circulation) Ginkgo biloba Ginkgo