Learning from Both Sides: Experiences and Opportunities in the Investigation of Australian Aboriginal Medicinal Plants

Abstract

-With one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world, Australian Aboriginal people have developed immense knowledge about the diverse Australian flora. Western scientific investigation of some Australian Aboriginal medicinal plants has demonstrated interesting pharmacological activities and chemistry, however the majority of these species have not yet been extensively examined. We argue that research that is locally initiated and driven by Indigenous traditional owners in collaboration with Western scientists has significant potential to develop new plant-based products. Locally driven medicinal plants research in which traditional owners work as researchers in collaboration with University-based colleagues in the investigation of medicines rather than "stakeholders" or "informants" is one model that may be used in characterising plants with the potential to be developed into sustainable plant-based medicinal products with commercial value. Our team has taken this approach in research located both on traditional homelands and in the laboratory.

Exploring the anti-diabetic potential of Australian Aboriginal and Indian Ayurvedic plant extracts using cell-based assays

“…Part of this drug discovery research effort will be to identify plant species that can potentially be applied in the management of type 2 diabetes and related complications of weight gain, hypertension and immune-suppression. Australia is one of the mega diverse countries in the world and Australian medicinal plants are untapped source of novel chemical scaffolds and hence there is a great need to explore Australian Aboriginal plants [ 34 ].…”

Botanical compounds and their regulation of nuclear receptor action: The case of traditional Chinese medicine

“…First, it is obvious that TCM is a wonderful source of new ligands for NRs and that a systematic screen of TCM will enrich the pharmacology of these receptors. The same strategy could be applied to other traditional herbal medicines such as those from central America (Michel et al, 2007), Africa (Mahomoodally, 2013) or Australia (Simpson et al, 2013), for example. As discussed above, several interesting compounds such as dual PPARα/γ agonists, dissociated glucocorticoids or tissue selective estrogen complex have been described and are probably the precursor of a rich set of new molecules.…”

In vitro inhibitory activities of selected Australian medicinal plant extracts against protein glycation, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) and digestive enzymes linked to type II diabetes

“…Moreover, Aboriginal people across Australia hold significant customary medicinal knowledge associated with the use of different plant species for indications including infection and inflammatory conditions [25]. The Cape York Peninsula region in Far North Queensland is home to a diverse range of medicinal plant species.…”

“…We have previously investigated several plant species for anti-inflammatory activities [25, 28] as Kuuku I’yu Traditional Owners have used these plants for treating diseases associated with inflammation [29]. Traditional medicinal plants previously shown to have anti-inflammatory properties have also been reported to exhibit blood-glucose-lowering and antiglycation effects [30–33].…”