Woody Plants and pharmaceutics
Take a moment to think about your health over
the last year. How often have you taken a painkiller to manage that headache or
fever? These powerful tools have the ability to save you from a day of pain,
allowing the survival of that long shift at work or half-marathon which has
slowly crept up on you. How many relatives or friends have had their health
improved through life saving medications such as chemotherapy or
anti-depressants. There are a large variety of medications widely used today
that have transformed our lives and we would struggle in a world without them.
Many are aware that it is advances in medical research which have enabled the
development and availability of these. However, it is often forgotten that when
developing such drugs scientists will usually take their inspiration from
similar compounds found in nature. But where? This article gives much deserved
recognition to nature’s
own pharmacologists. After all, these magicians are our true heroes.
So, what natural marvels are responsible for
these compounds? – mainly plants, animals and fungi. This article will focus
primarily on woody plants and their ability to produce useful chemicals. The
extraction of compounds from plants goes back years. From tribes making herbal
remedies to the scientific extraction of the chemicals we use today. Below are
a few examples of how woody plants have completely transformed our lives:
Aspirin:
Aspirin is a silicate sold as an over the
counter medication. Its main purpose is to reduce pain and inflammation. The
active ingredient in this common drug originally comes from willow tree bark
and has actually been used for about 6000 years. So, how does this drug work? Willow bark
contains a substance called salicin which the body transforms into salicylic
acid. This acid reduces the production of certain prostaglandins in
our nerves. Prostaglandins are produced in response to tissue damage or
infection, their role being to facilitate the healing process. However,
alongside their healing properties they also cause pain, therefore reducing
their production can minimise the pain associated with the healing process. It
can subsequently be deduced that willow trees do much more for us than just
creating a gorgeous aesthetic landscape!
Irinotecan:
Irinotecan is a chemotherapy medication
primarily used to treat colon and rectal cancer. The active ingredients within this medication
include camptothecin, pentacyclic quinolines and 10-hydroxycamptothecin, which
are derived from Camptotheca Trees, Camptotheca acuminata. The
mechanisms by which these compounds interact with the human body are complex.
They inhibit DNA topoisomerase I which is important for the replication of
cancer cells. It would therefore make sense that without this substance, cancer
cannot thrive. This is because type 1 topoisomerases are catalysts for the
transient breakage of DNA and for the re-joining of the strands following this
during cell replication. Without this catalyst, replication would occur at a
very slow rate. Cancer is a devastating disease and advances such as this are
hugely important.
Digoxin:
Digoxin is well established in the treatment
of heart arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation. It is extracted from the
leaves of the common foxglove plant, Digitalis purpura. It works by slowing down the
heart alongside improving ventricle filling which increases the blood supply
available for each pump. The heart is one of the most important organs in the
body, subsequently reflecting the importance of this medication and its
lifesaving qualities.
These are just three examples of how woody
plants have transformed our lives. However, there are still many unidentified
species that have not yet been discovered in our ecosystems which have the
potential to contain life-saving chemicals. In addition, there is the potential
for the availability of medication that has fewer side effects to those
currently in use. Unfortunately, many biomes are currently being destroyed at
such a rate new species, and perhaps medically active chemicals, are being
removed before any possible benefits can be uncovered. Therefore, the increased
rates of deforestation may be destroying more than just habitats, they may be
taking with them a wealth of potentially undiscovered medicines. This is just
one more example of why conservation work is so important and I urge that it is
taken seriously. Effective conservation is clearly vital to improve the lives
of our future generations. It can be concluded that plants have played a huge
role in our lives over many generations and continue to help us on a daily
basis thus reflecting the importance of conserving them.
Take
home message: Next time you take that aspirin in a moment
of despair, take a moment to really appreciate the unsung heroes of pharmacy –
woody plants. It is a shame that whilst many plants save us, we thank them by
cutting them down, destroying biomes and causing extinction.
Journal of Pharmaceutics and Drug Research is an international multidisciplinary open access journal founded by Ke-He Ruan. This Journal is chiefly devoted to publishing high-quality papers focused on all aspects of pharmaceutics and drugs that are critical to the discovery and development of new drugs and therapies.
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