In vitro protective effects of plants frequently used traditionally in cancer prevention in Thai traditional medicine: An ethnopharmacological study

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Thai traditional medicine (TTM) has been used widely in cancer management in Thailand. Although several Thai medicinal plants were screened for pharmacological activities related to cancer treatment, such evidence still suffers from the lack of linking with TTM knowledge. AIM OF THE STUDY: To document knowledge and species used in cancer prevention in TTM and to preliminary investigate pharmacological activities related to the documented knowledge of twenty-six herbal drugs used in cancer/mareng prevention. METHODS: Fieldwork gathering data on TTM concept and herbal medicines used in cancer prevention was performed with TTM practitioners across Thailand. Later, water and ethanol extracts from twenty-six herbal drugs mentioned as being used in cancer prevention were screened for their protective effect against tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced cell death in HepG2 cells. Then active extracts were investigated for their effects on NQO1 activity, glutathione level, and safety in normal rat hepatocytes. RESULTS: The fieldwork helped in the development of TTM cancer prevention strategy and possible experimental models to test the pharmacological activities of selected medicinal plants. Fifteen plant extracts showed significant protective effect by restoring the cell viability to 40-59.3%, which were comparable or better than the positive control EGCG. Among them, ethanol extracts from S. rugata and T. laurifolia showed the most promising chemopreventive properties by significantly increased NQO1 activity, restored GSH level from oxidative damage, as well as showed non-toxic effect in normal rat hepatocytes. CONCLUSION: TTM knowledge in cancer prevention was documented and used in the planning of pharmacological experiment to study herbal medicines, especially in cancer, inflammation, and other chronic diseases. The proposed strategy should be applied to in vivo and clinical studies in order to further confirm the validity of such a strategy. Other traditional medical systems that use integrated approaches could also apply our strategy to develop evidence that supports a more rational uses in traditional medicine

Understanding cancer and its treatment in Thai traditional medicine: An ethnopharmacological-anthropological investigation

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Thai traditional medicine (TTM) is widely practiced in Thailand and continues to gain importance in cancer management, but little is known about the TTM practitioners' emic concepts and practice. AIM OF THE STUDY: With this study we firstly aim to document the practice of cancer treatment and prevention by TTM practitioners and, secondly, to evaluate how such traditional concepts and practices are correlated with biomedical ones. This in turn can form the basis for developing novel strategies for designing pharmacological experiments and longer term strategies to develop TTM practice. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews with 33 TTM practitioners were performed in five provinces in different regions of Thailand. The following information were recorded; basic information of informants, descriptions of cancer (mareng in Thai), causes, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Plants used in the treatment and prevention of mareng were also collected. RESULTS: Using an in depth ethnographic approach four representative case studies to assist in a better understanding of the characteristics of mareng, its diagnosis, treatment, and prevention are reported here. Five characteristics of mareng - waste accumulation (khong sia), chronic illnesses (krasai), inflammation (kan aksep), bad blood (luead) and lymph (namlueang), and the imbalance of four basic elements (dhātu si) - have been identified. Explanatory models of cancer in TTM were linked with biomedical concepts and relevant pharmacological actions. Traditional uses and available scientific evidence of medicinal plants mentioned in the case studies for the treatment or prevention of mareng are presented and discussed. CONCLUSION: Here for the first time five main characteristics of cancer based on Thai traditional medical concepts are analysed. Our findings are relevant not only for the planning of clinical studies or pharmacological experiment in the search for novel compounds for cancer treatment and prevention, but also for the integration of Thai traditional medicine in cancer care

The safety of Homnawakod herbal formula containing <it>Aristolochia tagala</it> Cham. in Wistar rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A dried root of <it>Aristolochia tagala</it> Cham. (ATC) is often used in Thai traditional medicine as an antipyretic, anti-inflammatory agent, muscle relaxant, appetite-enhancing agent, and analeptic. Homnawakod, an important herbal recipe, originally contains ATC in its formula, however, some <it>Aristolochia</it> species have been reported to cause nephrotoxicity due to aristolochic acid (AA) and its derivatives, resulting in ATC removal from all formulae. Therefore, this study investigates the chemical profiles of ATC, the original (HNK+ATC) and the present Homnawakod Ayurved Siriraj Herbal Formulary™ (HNK), and investigates whether they could cause nephrotoxicity or aggravate LPS-induced organ injuries <it>in vivo</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>HPLC and LC/MS were used for chemical profile study. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into groups in which the rats were intragastrically administered distilled water (2 groups), ATC (10 or 30 mg/kg), HNK+ATC (540 or 1,620 mg/kg), or HNK (1,590 mg/kg) for 21 days. A positive control group was administered with single dose 100 mg/kg standard AA-I intragastrically at day 1. Serum creatinine and urea were measured at baseline and at 7, 14 and 21 days of the treatment. On day 22, a model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced endotoxemia was used. One-way and two-way analyses of variance were performed and a <it>P</it> value of less than 0.05 was considered to be significant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The similarity of the HPLC chromatograms of HNK+ATC and HNK could suggest that the qualities of both formulae are nearly the same in terms of chemical profile. The amount of AA-I found in ATC is 0.24%w/w. All experimental groups exhibited similar levels of serum urea at baseline and 7 and 14 days of the treatment. At 21 days, rats received AA exhibited a significant increase in serum urea, whereas the others did not exhibit such toxicity. On day 22, there were no significant changes in LPS-induced renal and liver dysfunction, or LPS-induced mean arterial pressure (MAP) reduction upon administration of ATC, HNK+ATC, HNK or AA-I.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results suggest that ATC, HNK+ATC or HNK, at the animal dose equivalent to that used in human, do not cause the acute nephrotoxicity in rats and do not aggravate LPS-induced organ injuries even further.</p