Animal-based medicines: biological prospection and the sustainable use of zootherapeutic resources

Abstract

Animals have been used as medicinal resources for the treatment and relieve of a myriad of illnesses and diseases in practically every human culture. Although considered by many as superstition, the pertinence of traditional medicine based on animals cannot be denied since they have been methodically tested by pharmaceutical companies as sources of drugs to the modern medical science. The phenomenon of zootherapy represents a strong evidence of the medicinal use of animal resources. Indeed, drug companies and agribusiness firms have been evaluating animals for decades without paying anything to the countries from where these genetic resources are found. The use of animals' body parts as folk medicines is relevant because it implies additional pressure over critical wild populations. It is argued that many animal species have been overexploited as sources of medicines for the traditional trade. Additionally, animal populations have become depleted or endangered as a result of their use as experimental subjects or animal models. Research on zootherapy should be compatible with the welfare of the medicinal animals, and the use of their by-products should be done in a sustainable way. It is discussed that sustainability is now required as the guiding principle for biological conservation.

Animal Species Traded as Ethnomedicinal Resources in the Federal District, Central West Region of Brazil~!2010-01-05~!2010-01-24~!2010-06-22~!

“…The economical value of zootherapy, as expressed by those who trade animal-based medicines, should be taken into account whenever one makes political and environmental measures against this trade [6,17,25,26,29]. Instead of sending the practitioners of zootherapy to prisons, or creating policies which force them to abandon such a practice, decision-makers should view this human/nature connection within its cultural dimension.…”

“…The value of animal-based medicines is very significant; they are usually the main available resources for the majority of the human population who has limited access to official medicines and proper medical care. Since people have been using animals for a long time, suppression of their use will not save them from extinction [17]. Considering the sea turtles, Carr [30] says "people have been eating turtles pretty steadily for as long as they have had the wits to get them out of their shells".…”

“…As Alcorn [34] states, "Conservation is a social and political process". In this way, discussing the relationship between food availabilities that are provided by the environment, their trophic use, the physiological consequences resulted form their eating, as well as the social-economical structures that support them within the multidimensionality of the sustainable development is one of the key elements to achieve sustainability [11,17].…”

“…The diminishing number of animal species, especially from Neotropical areas, through hunting, depauperation of their ecosystems, and their varied uses has been enormous that most of them are becoming extinct even before they have been studied by science [17]. Hence, studies aimed towards traditional knowledge on animal use and its significance to men should be undertaken in order to lead to better ways of exploiting the natural resources.…”

“…Unfortunately, many of the zootherapeutic resources include threatened species [16]. The large number of animal species used medicinally in Brazilian pharmacopoeia indicates the ethnobiological significance of this phenomenon, and necessitates public discussion about conservation biology, public health policies, bioprospection, patent laws, and sustainable management of natural resources [17].…”