Anticancer Activity of Uncommon Medicinal Plants from the Republic of Suriname: Traditional Claims, Preclinical Findings, and Potential Clinical Applicability against Cancer

Despite much progress in our understanding of the essence of cancer, remarkable advances in methods for early diagnosis, the expanding array of antineoplastic drugs and treatment modalities, as well as important refinements in their use, this disease is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in many parts of the world. In fact, the next decade is anticipated to bring over 20 million new cases per year globally, about half of whom will die from their disease. This indicates a need for better strategies to deal with cancer. One way to go forward is to draw lessons from ancient ethnopharmacological wisdom and to evaluate the plant biodiversity for compounds with potential antineoplastic activity. This approach has already yielded many breakthrough cytotoxic drugs such as vincristine, etoposide, paclitaxel, and irinotecan. The Republic of Suriname (South America), renowned for its pristine and highly biodiverse rain forests as well as its ethnic, cultural, and ethnopharmacological diversity, could also contribute to these developments. This chapter addresses the cancer problem throughout the world and in Suriname, extensively deals with nine plants used for treating cancer in the country, and concludes with their prospects in anticancer drug discovery and development programs

Meeting of the Minds: Traditional Herbal Medicine in Multiethnic Suriname

The Republic of Suriname (South America) is located on the Guiana Shield, one of the regions with the highest biodiversity and the largest expanse of undisturbed tropical rain forest in the world. The population of almost 570,000 consists of a unique blend of ethnic groups and cultures from all continents. These include Indigenous Amerindians, the original inhabitants; Maroons, the descendants of runaway slaves who had been shipped from Africa between the seventeenth and the nineteenth century; Creoles, a generic term referring to mixed blacks and whites; the descendants from indentured workers from China, India, and Java (Indonesia) who arrived between the second half of the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century; as well as immigrants from various Middle Eastern, European, Caribbean, and South American countries. All these groups have made their own specific contribution to Suriname’s traditional medicine, which has resulted in a myriad of remedies against many disorders, mainly employing a variety of plants. This chapter presents a brief history of Suriname, addresses the ethnopharmacological practices of Maroons and Creoles as well as Hindustanis and Javanese, and concludes with a few remarks on the previsions provided by the country’s rich plant-based traditional medicine

Plant-Based Ethnopharmacological Remedies for Hypertension in Suriname

Hypertension is the most important modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and renal diseases which are together among the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Despite the availability of a wide range of effective medicines, many individuals suffering from hypertension use plant-derived preparations for treating their disease. The choice for these alternatives is often associated with the closer relationship of such approaches to specific social, cultural, and religious perceptions about health and disease. However, in most cases, the scientific evidence for clinical efficacy of such medications is scant. The Republic of Suriname is a middle-income country in South America with a relatively high prevalence of hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. This country harbors descendants of all continents, all of whom have preserved their cultural customs including their ethnopharmacological traditions. As a result, many Surinamese are inclined to treat their diseases including hypertension as they have done for centuries, that is, with plant-based preparations. This chapter has compiled the plants used for treating hypertension in Suriname; extensively evaluates 15 commonly used plants for potential efficacy on the basis of available phytochemical, mechanistic, preclinical, and clinical literature data; and closes with conclusions about their potential usefulness against the disease

US Department of Energy`s high-temperature and high-pressure particulate cleanup for advanced coal-based power systems

The availability of reliable, low-cost electricity is a cornerstone for the United States` ability to compete in the world market. The Department of Energy (DOE) projects the total consumption of electricity in the US to rise from 2.7 trillion kilowatt-hours in 1990 to 3.5 trillion in 2010. Although energy sources are diversifying, fossil fuel still produces 90 percent of the nation`s energy. Coal is our most abundant fossil fuel resource and the source of 56 percent of our electricity. It has been the fuel of choice because of its availability and low cost. A new generation of high-efficiency power systems has made it possible to continue the use of coal while still protecting the environment. Such power systems greatly reduce the pollutants associated with cola-fired plants built before the 1970s. To realize this high efficiency and superior environmental performance, advanced coal-based power systems will require gas stream cleanup under high-temperature and high-pressure (HTHP) process conditions. Presented in this paper are the HTHP particulate capture requirements for the Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and Pressurized Fluidized-Bed Combustion (PFBC) power systems, the HTHP particulate cleanup systems being implemented in the PFBC and IGCC Clean Coal Technology (CCT) Projects, and the currently available particulate capture performance results

The Morgantown Energy Technology Center`s particulate cleanup program

The development of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) and pressurized fluidized-bed combustion (PFBC) power systems has made it possible to use coal while still protecting the environment. Such power systems significantly reduce the pollutants associated with coal-fired plants built before the 1970s. This superior environmental performance and related high system efficiency is possible, in part, because particulate gas-stream cleanup is conducted at high-temperature and high-pressure process conditions. A main objective of the Particulate Cleanup Program at the Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) is to ensure the success of the CCT demonstration projects. METC`s Particulate Cleanup Program supports research, development, and demonstration in three areas: (1) filter-system development, (2) barrier-filter component development, and (3) ash and char characterization. The support is through contracted research, cooperative agreements, Cooperative Research And Development Agreements (CRADAs), and METC`s own in-house research. This paper describes METC`s Particulate Cleanup Program

Test results from the Department of Energy`s Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion Hot Gas Cleanup Program

Presented here is a summary of operations and conclusions from the last two test campaigns of the Department of Energy`s Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion Hot Gas Cleanup Program which was implemented by the American Electric Power Service Corporation. In these tests, the Westinghouse Advanced Particle Filter (APF) operated on a one-seventh flow from the Tidd 70-MWe Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustor. During these tests, the filter operated as predicted with extremely high particulate removal. During the combined test periods, more than 2,800 hours of operation were accumulated -- two operational periods lasted more than 650 hours. The completion of this program brings the total coal fired operating time of the APF to 5,854 hours

Naturally Occurring Antioxidants in Seven Well-Known Fruits from the Republic of Suriname (South America): Part 2

The dependence of humans on oxygen for their metabolism, together with their uninterrupted exposure to a wide variety of hazardous environmental chemicals, leads to the continuous formation of reactive oxygen-derived species (ROS) in the body such as superoxide radical anion, hydrogen peroxide, peroxyl radicals, and hydroxyl radical. When in excess, ROS can damage cellular constituents such as DNA and membrane lipids causing oxidative stress, cellular injury, and eventually, inflammatory, neoplastic, diabetic, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and age-related diseases. Fortunately, the body has a multitude of naturally occurring antioxidants in dietary fruits and vegetables to its disposal, including polyphenolic compounds, vitamins, and essential minerals. These antioxidants eliminate ROS by acting as reducing agents, hydrogen donors, quenchers of singlet oxygen, or chelators of metal ions that catalyze oxidation reactions, thus decreasing the risk of the above-mentioned diseases. Part 1 of this chapter has comprehensively addressed three representative examples of fruits from the Republic of Suriname (South America) that are rich in the polyphenolics anthocyanins, ellagitannins, and coumarins and has highlighted their antioxidant activity and beneficial and health-promoting effects. This second part deals with four Surinamese fruits with an abundance of (pro)vitamins A, C, and E and selenium in light of their antioxidant activities

Naturally Occurring Antioxidants in Seven Well-Known Fruits from the Republic of Suriname (South America): Part 1

The dependence of humans on oxygen for their metabolism, together with their uninterrupted exposure to a wide variety of hazardous environmental chemicals, leads to the continuous formation of reactive oxygen-derived species (ROS) in the body, such as superoxide radical anion, hydrogen peroxide, peroxyl radicals, and hydroxyl radical. When in excess, ROS can damage cellular constituents such as DNA and membrane lipids causing oxidative stress, cellular injury, and, eventually, inflammatory, neoplastic, diabetic, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and age-related diseases. Fortunately, the body has a multitude of naturally occurring antioxidants in dietary fruits and vegetables to its disposal, including polyphenolic compounds, vitamins, and essential minerals. These antioxidants eliminate ROS by acting as reducing agents, hydrogen donors, quenchers of singlet oxygen, or chelators of metal ions that catalyze oxidation reactions, thus decreasing the risk of the abovementioned diseases. This first part of the current chapter comprehensively addresses three representative examples of fruits from the Republic of Suriname (South America) that are rich in anthocyanins, ellagitannins, and coumarins and highlights their antioxidant activity and beneficial and health-promoting effects. In part 2, four Surinamese fruits with an abundance of (pro)vitamins A, C, and E and selenium are equally extensively dealt with in light of their antioxidant activities

Catalytic reforming of glycerol in supercritical water over bimetallic Pt-Ni catalyst

Catalytic reforming of pure glycerol for the production of hydrogen at low temperature and short residence times in supercritical water was investigated using a bimetallic Pt–Ni catalyst supported on alumina. Initial tests were carried out to study the reforming activity of bimetallic Pt–Ni catalysts by reforming different model compounds having different carbon numbers in supercritical water at 400–450 °C. The influence of different operating parameters such as reaction temperature, initial feed concentration, location of the catalyst bed, and weight hourly space velocity on the carbon to gas conversion and product gas distribution is studied. Continuous experiments were carried out using a fixed bed reactor for a temperature range of 380–500 °C, feed concentrations of up to 20 wt %, at space velocities of up to 45 h–1. The product gas mainly consisted of CO2, H2 and alkanes (CH4 and C2H6) and the liquid effluent after the reaction primarily consisted of unconverted glycerol, 1,2-propanediol, and ethanol, with trace amounts of acetaldehyde, ethanol, and 1,3-propanediol. A comparison of the reforming activity of the catalyst and process with respect to the feedstock characteristics was made by comparing the carbon to gas conversion and product distribution for pure and crude glycerol. The carbon to gas conversion and the product gas distribution of pure and crude glycerol are comparable. Complete conversion of 15 wt % (pure) glycerol in water to gaseous products was achieved at 450–500 °C and the product gas mainly consisted of H2, CO2, and CH4. However, whereas the catalyst deactivated rapidly with crude glycerol, for pure glycerol the catalyst showed stable performance for a long duration run up to 85 h, indicating that catalyst deactivation by for example, coke formation in the gasification reaction system is not a major issue. It is anticipated that with a proper catalyst support material, the gasification of concentrated aqueous glycerol streams can be developed into a viable proces