Pharmacy and herbal medicine in the US.

Herbal medicine is increasing in popularity in the United States. The market continues to grow, with a presence being established for commercially-prepared herbal products in community pharmacies throughout the nation. This survey was conducted to describe that presence in pharmacies and to describe pharmacists' perceptions of this product class. A response rate of 26.3% (n = 512) was achieved for a five-page mail survey sent to a geographically stratified random sample of community pharmacies in the United States. Approximately 73% of pharmacists responding indicated that their pharmacy carried commercially-prepared herbal products. Attitudinal items were included to measure pharmacists' perceptions toward these products, as those perceptions have the potential to influence attitudes and subsequently behavior (such as clinical involvement with patients wishing to integrate herbal products into an existing regimen). Pharmacists, on average, did not believe that herbal products are well standardized, or that the products are well accepted by the Food and Drug Administration or the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. Much potential exists for pharmacists to fill a role as information provider to patients who self-medicate with herbal medicines; must their perceptions of the product class be changed first?

Determination of the Fatty Acid content of pumpkin seed, pygeum, and saw palmetto.

Fatty acids are major components of many plants, foods and medicines, including pumpkin seeds (Cucubita pepo), pygeum bark (Prunus africana) and saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). With the gas chromatography methods reported here, free fatty acids of these species can be quantified as their trimethylsilyl derivatives. Because of their different fatty acid contents and composition, the gas chromatography method can distinguish which of three plant species was extracted, and, in the case of S. repens, the method of extraction. Although phytosterols can be separated by this method, their content is too low to be assigned directly. The total fatty acid content can be determined through formation of the methyl esters. This is helpful for estimation of the kind and percentage of fatty acids that are present as triglyceride esters in the plant material and for standardization of the products.

Effect of drying conditions on the taxane content of the needles of ornamental Taxus.

The effect of drying intact clippings of Taxus on the recovery of taxol and related compounds was studied under different drying conditions which included tobacco drying barn, greenhouse, shadehouse, air conditioned laboratory, oven, and freeze-drying. For clippings dried under tobacco barn, greenhouse, oven, and freeze-drying conditions, nearly total recovery of the expected levels based upon projections from analysis of fresh biomass was observed for taxol and cephalomannine. However, only 75-80% of the expected values for 10-deacetyltaxol and 10-deacetylbaccatin III were found. When the length of drying was extended up to 10 and 15 days as in the shadehouse and laboratory conditions, the recovery of all taxanes was adversely affected.

Use of plant-derived therapies in a rural, biracial population in Mississippi.

Exploring the use of plant-derived medicines has recently received much attention in both scientific and popular journals. A study conducted in central Mississippi on medicinal plants investigated the frequency of use, types of plants used, and symptoms treated. A randomly selected probability sample of 223 households found that over 70 percent of the adults used at least one plant-derived medicine during the past year. The most frequently used plants included lemon, aloe, castor, turpentine, tobacco, and garlic. Frequency of use varied by race with a higher proportion of African-Americans than Caucasians reporting use of a plant-derived medicine. Due to the possible presence of toxic compounds or potential drug interactions, it is recommended that health care professionals investigate the use of plant-derived therapies as part of the patient's medical history.

Effect of drying Taxus needles on their taxol content: the impact of drying intact clippings.

Evaluation of various methods of drying yew (Taxus) biomass was accomplished. The effect of the separation of the needles from clippings on the taxol content of Taxus plants was noted. Drying clippings intact preserves their taxol content.

Taxol content of stored fresh and dried Taxus clippings.

The taxol content of dried Taxus biomass was monitored monthly for 15 months. Intact and finely ground biomass was stored at room temperature (22 degrees-24 degrees) as well as under refrigeration (2 degrees-4 degrees). In addition, intact fresh clippings stored under refrigeration in sealed plastic bags for up to 10 weeks were evaluated for changes in taxol content. Analysis indicates that properly dried Taxus clippings can be stored either intact or powdered at room temperature or under refrigeration with no apparent loss of taxol content. The taxol content in fresh intact clippings was also stable for at least 10 weeks when stored under refrigeration.

Antimicrobial compounds from Petalostemum purpureum.

EtOH extracts of Petalostemum purpureum demonstrated antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi. Bioassay-directed fractionation led to the isolation of petalostemumol [1] as the active constituent. Its structure was determined by a single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. A minor component designated petalostemumol G [3] is believed to be an artifact of the isolation procedure. Its structure was confirmed by a single crystal X-ray analysis of its pentamethylether 2. A number of derivatives of 1 and 3, including the Me- and benzylethers and acetates, were prepared.

Microbial metabolism studies of the antimalarial sesquiterpene artemisinin.

Microbial metabolism of the sesquiterpene lactone antimalarial drug artemisinin [1] was studied. Screening studies have shown a number of microorganisms capable of metabolizing artemisinin [1]. Scale-up fermentation with Nocardia corallina (ATCC 19070) and Penicillium chrysogenum (ATCC 9480) have resulted in the production of two major microbial metabolites that have been characterized with the use of 2D-nmr techniques. These metabolites have been identified as deoxyartemisinin [2] and 3 alpha-hydroxydeoxyartemisinin [3].

Microbial transformation studies on arteannuin B.

The microbial transformation of the sesquiterpene lactone arreannuin B [3] using Aspergillus flavipes produced dihydroarteannuin B [4] as the main transformation product. Preparative-scale fermentation of 3 with Beauveria bassiana, on the other hand, has resulted in the production of two metabolites, 3 beta-hydroxyarteannuin B [5] and 13-hydroxy-11-epi-dihydroarteannuin B [6]. The structure of these metabolites, all of which are new compounds, was established using chemical and spectroscopic techniques. The isomeric dihydrocompound, 11-epi-dihydroarteannuin B [7] and an isomer of arteannuin B [8] were also prepared chemically. All compounds were subjected to 2D-nmr experiments and full 1H- and 13C-nmr assignments were made.