8 / 13
Page 21
Current Research: Integrative Medicine
Notes:
CAM Therapies 2017
September 18-19, 2017 Charlotte, USA
5
th
International Meeting on
Complementary and Alternative Medicine & Therapies
Potential of natural biflavanones from traditional medicinal plants as novel drugs leads:
Garcinia buchananii
stem bark extract and derivative 3, 8″-linked biflavanones
Onesmo B Balemba
1
, Timo D Stark
2
, Dorah J Mtui
1
, Jakob Magolan
1
and
Thomas Hofmann
2
1
University of Idaho, USA
2
Technische Universität München, Germany
M
edicinal plants have served as the mainstay of traditional medicine for numerous centuries, and are a
rich source of modern/western medicine. However, herbal extracts and refined preparations have
limited use in modern medicine due to lack of knowledge about bioactive molecules, mechanisms of action,
effectiveness, quality, bioavailability, safety, availability, preservation and regulatory policies. Nonetheless,
herbal therapy is still extensively used in developing countries, and is likely to increase in developed countries.
Extracts and refine preparations from Garcinia trees are widely used to treat numerous illnesses globally. In
Africa,
Garcinia buchananii
stem bark extracts (GBB) are ingested to chronic diarrhea, dysentery, abdominal
pain, inflammation and diabetes. We are investigating GBB to define the active compounds, their mechanisms
of action, bioavailability, effectiveness and safety. Our findings support indigenous knowledge that GBB is
antinociceptive and antidiarrheal remedy. Furthermore, like opiates, GBB acts by inhibiting neurotransmission
in the gut, and appears to have similar efficacy as loperamide suggesting it is effective in shorten the duration
of diarrhea. GBB can be refined into biflavanones-rich fractions that retain properties of GBB. Research shows
that flavanones are abundant in herbal extracts used to mitigate diarrheal illnesses and accompanying pain, and
chronic illnesses. Collectively, our research findings and those of other investigators highlight the therapeutic
potential of biflavanones, and suggest that flavanones are promising leads for the development of novel therapies.
Also, our findings demonstrate the unmet challenges for utilizing herbal extracts, fractions and pure molecules
to improve human and animal health, and the need for multidisciplinary, team-based approach to break these
barriers.
Biography
Onesmo B Balemba research focuses on the pathophysiology of diseases that affect gastrointestinal (GI) functions. His aim is to gain a better understanding of
neuromuscular and immune system host responses in diabetes, and infectious diarrhea, and therapeutic strategies for these conditions. He works at Department
of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, USA.
obalemba@uidaho.edu