Secondary Compounds andMedicinal Plants

Spring 2012

Lecture Outline

I. A brief history of medicinal plantsII. 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. 1070-1100 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 PapyrusEgypt, 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. 1070-1100 England, St. Augustine's abbey, Canterbury

Doctrine of Signatures

Paracelsus1493-1541

Plants in Modern Medicine

Foxglove: Digitalis purpurea(Snapdragon Family)

William Withering1741-1799

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

1928 - The glycosides digitoxin and digitaliswere isolated. These have been determined to have a strong effect on the heart muscle.

Congestive Heart Failure

Digitalis purpureaFoxglove

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

MalariaMalaria

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 protozoansD. living in tropical regionsE. a sexually-transmitted virus

Clicker QuestionClicker Question

Anopheles mosquito

Plasmodium falciparum

Mid-17th 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 calisayaFever 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 antisyphiliticaclapweed, whorehouse tea, Mormon tea

Ephedra, source of ephedra, orma-huang

FDA NewsFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 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 bilobaGinkgo biloba

Ginkgo