Ethnobotany and Ethnopharmacy - Their Role for Anti-Cancer Drug Development

Abstract

Local and traditional knowledge has been the starting point for many successful drug development projects over the last decades. Here we discuss some examples of anti-cancer drugs which have had enormous impact as anti-cancer agents (camptothecan, taxol and derivatives) and a few examples of drugs currently under various stages of preclinical development. Ethnobotanists investigate the relationship between humans and plants in all its complexity, and such research is generally based on a detailed observation and study of the use a society makes of plants. The requirements of modern research on natural products as, for example, outlined in the Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio Convention) and the overall approach in ethnobotanical research are also discussed. Selected phytochemical-pharmacological studies based on traditional plant use are used to highlight the potential of ethnobotany driven anti-cancer research. The link between traditionally used plants and targets of the NF-kappaB pathway is discussed using on an EU-funded, multidisciplinary project as an example. Lastly the potential of chemopreventive agents derived from traditional food plants is briefly addressed.

Phytochemistry and pharmacogenomics of natural products derived from traditional chinese medicine and chinese materia medica with activity against tumor cells

“…Medicinal plants used in many tribes all worldwide are studied in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology (5). It can be expected that the search for bioactive plant compounds is more successful in medicinal plants than a search across all plant species.…”

Selecting Medicinal Plants for Development of Phytomedicine and Use in Primary Health Care

“…According to Heinrich and Bremner (2006), the ethnobotany investigates the relationship between humans and plants in all its complexity, and is usually based on a detailed www.intechopen.com observation and study of the plants used by a society, including all its cultural beliefs and practices associated with that use. For such research, the ethnobotanists use a complex set of methods derived from the social and cultural sciences, including the taking of detailed field notes and the carefully documented collection of plant samples that allow a precise determination of the corresponding species.…”

Alchornea glandulosaEthyl Acetate Fraction Exhibits Antiangiogenic Activity: Preliminary Findings fromIn VitroAssays Using Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells

“…1 Brazil is a country of ethnopharmacologic interest because of its great cultural and biological diversity. 2 The genus Alchornea belongs to the Euphorbiaceae family, which contains about 7,500 species, including trees, shrubs, and herbs, in all parts of the world.…”