0000000000279894
AUTHOR
Michael Heinrich
Medicinally Used Asarum Species: High-Resolution LC-MS Analysis of Aristolochic Acid Analogs and In vitro Toxicity Screening in HK-2 Cells
Species of Asarum are used in traditional Chinese medicine and, similar to members of the genus Aristolochia, they contain aristolochic acid analogs (AAAs). These compounds are known for their nephrotoxic and carcinogenic effects. So far, the phytochemistry and nephrotoxicity of species of Asarum is not well studied. A high-resolution LC-MS-based metabolomic approach was used to study the phytochemical variation in medicinally used Asarum species. The cytotoxicity of the samples was assessed using human kidney (HK-2) cells. The majority of samples contained potentially nephrotoxic AAAs, including 9-methoxy aristolactam (AL) IV, AL I, and AL IV. These compounds were present in methanol as we…
Traditional Chinese medicine research in the post-genomic era: good practice, priorities, challenges and opportunities.
Abstract Background and aims GP-TCM is the 1st EU-funded Coordination Action consortium dedicated to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research. This paper aims to summarise the objectives, structure and activities of the consortium and introduces the position of the consortium regarding good practice, priorities, challenges and opportunities in TCM research. Serving as the introductory paper for the GP-TCM Journal of Ethnopharmacology special issue, this paper describes the roadmap of this special issue and reports how the main outputs of the ten GP-TCM work packages are integrated, and have led to consortium-wide conclusions. Materials and methods Literature studies, opinion polls and di…
Evolution of the adaptogenic concept from traditional use to medical systems: Pharmacology of stress‐ and aging‐related diseases
Abstract Adaptogens comprise a category of herbal medicinal and nutritional products promoting adaptability, resilience, and survival of living organisms in stress. The aim of this review was to summarize the growing knowledge about common adaptogenic plants used in various traditional medical systems (TMS) and conventional medicine and to provide a modern rationale for their use in the treatment of stress‐induced and aging‐related disorders. Adaptogens have pharmacologically pleiotropic effects on the neuroendocrine‐immune system, which explain their traditional use for the treatment of a wide range of conditions. They exhibit a biphasic dose‐effect response: at low doses they function as …
Best practice in research – Overcoming common challenges in phytopharmacological research
Abstract Background The pharmacology, toxicology and pharmacokinetics of bioactive preparations derived from natural sources has become a flourishing field of research. However, researching complex extracts and natural products faces numerous challenges. More broadly in recent years the critique of pharmacological research, and specifically its design, the methods used and reporting has intensified. Aims This consensus document provides a perspective on what constitutes best practice in pharmacological research on bioactive preparations derived from natural sources, providing a perspective of what the leading specialist journals in the field consider as the core characteristics of good rese…
Production of ceramides causes apoptosis during early neural differentiation in vitro.
To investigate signal transduction pathways leading to apoptosis during the early phase of neurogenesis, we employed PCC7-Mz1 cells, which cease to proliferate and begin to differentiate into a stable pattern of neurons, astroglial cells, and fibroblasts upon incubation with retinoic acid (RA). As part of lineage determination, a sizable fraction of RA-treated cultures die by apoptosis. Applying natural long-chain C(16)-ceramides as well as membrane-permeable C(2)/C(6)-ceramide analogs caused apoptosis, whereas the biologically nonactive C(2)-dihydroceramide did not. Treating PCC7-Mz1 stem cells with a neutral sphingomyelinase or with the ceramidase inhibitor N-oleoylethanolamine elevated t…
Herbal medicinal products - Evidence and tradition from a historical perspective.
Abstract Background Aside from the fully licensed herbal medicines there are products on the European pharmaceutical market which are registered by virtue of their longstanding traditional use. The normal registration procedure does not apply to them because presently they do not meet the legal requirements for a full license as set out in the relevant European Union Directive. One of these requirements, “proof of tradition”, has so far been dealt with in different ways and fails to meet the criteria of good practice. Method This analysis is based on a selective literature search in PubMed and in databases of medical and pharmaceutical history, interviews with licensing experts, a consensus…
Traditionally used Thai medicinal plants: in vitro anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antioxidant activities.
In order to assess traditional Thai claims about the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants and to select plants for future phytochemical research, nine plant species with anti-inflammatory uses were selected from Thai textbooks and assessed for their in vitro anti-inflammatory, antiproliferative and antioxidant activities.Nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB) inhibitory effects in stably transfected HeLa cells were determined by luciferase assay, and effects on LPS-induced pro-inflammatory mediators prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1beta, and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)alpha in primary monocytes were assessed by ELISA. Cytotoxic activities were examined against HeLa cells, h…