The development of radioprotective agents has been the subject of intense research in view of their potential for use within a radiation environment, such as space exploration, radiotherapy and even nuclear war. However, no ideal, safe synthetic radioprotectors are available to date, so the search for alternative sources, including plants, has been on going for several decades. In Ayurveda, the traditional Indian system of medicine, several plants have been used to treat free radical-mediated ailments and, therefore, it is logical to expect that such plants may also render some protection against radiation damage. A systematic screening approach can provide leads to identifying potential new candidate drugs from plant sources, for mitigation of radiation injury. This article reviews some of the most promising plants, and their bioactive principles, that are widely used in traditional systems of medicine, and which have rendered significant radioprotection in both in vitro and in vivo model systems. Plants and their constituents with pharmacological activities that may be relevant to amelioration of radiation-mediated damage, including antiemetic, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, cell proliferative, wound healing and haemopoietic stimulatories are also discussed.

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Radioprotection by plant products: present status and future prospects.

Phytochemistry, pharmacology, quality control and future research of Forsythia suspensa (Thunb.) Vahl: A review.

Bioasay-guided fractionation of the antiemetic constituents of Alpinia officinarum was performed, and eight compounds (1-8) including a new compound were isolated. Among the seven known compounds, two flavonoids (1, 2), four diarylheptanoids (3, 5, 6, 8), and one sterol (4) were obtained, with five (2-6) of those compounds showing antiemetic activity in a copper sulfate induced emesis assay in young chicks. The structure of the new compound 7, which also showed antiemetic activity, was determined as 5-hydroxy-7-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-heptanone. The structure of 7 was established on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation.

Antiemetic principles of Alpinia officinarum.

Anti-emetic principles of Pogostemon cablin (Blanco) Benth.

Preparative isolation and purification of phillyrin from the medicinal plant Forsythia suspensa by high-speed counter-current chromatography.

The new assay method was developed by using young chicks instead of frogs for screening of anti-emetic compounds from natural sources. Comparing with our previous method using leopard and ranid frogs, the advantages of the new method were not only completely parallel results but also decreasing standard errors. Hinesol and eudesmol were isolated from MeOH extract of Atractylodes lancea rhizome as the anti-emetic principles.

Y. Akita

Papers

New Assay Method for Surveying Anti-Emetic Compounds from Natural Sources

Anti-emetic principles of Inula linariaefolia flowers and Forsythia suspensa fruits.