What is the best strategy for preclinical testing of botanicals? A critical perspective.
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TLDR
It is proposed that preclinical testing strategies of botanicals should start with the in vivo examination of extracts in relevant animal models to substantiate the ethnopharmacological/ethnopharmaceutical use, followed by bioguided fractionation processes using an adequate in vitro model, further followed by pharmacokinetic studies and final in vivo testing of isolated compounds.Abstract:
The development of a new drug is generally marked by a number of preclinical investigations in a sequential order with regard to contents and logic. However, ethnopharmacology often uses the "reverse pharmacology" approach, which is based on anecdotal therapeutic effects of plants in ancient texts or based on the empirical knowledge of traditional healers. While this approach could successfully lead to new therapeutic applications by using sophisticated techniques and appropriate bioassays in a logical order, unfortunately there is an exponentially increasing number of reports of pharmacological effects of botanical extracts with insignificant bioactivities obtained in often irrelevant in vitro bioassays. The interpretation based on in vitro data can only be misleading since the pharmacokinetic properties of a compound are ignored, unacceptable high dosages of extracts are tested, or metabolism to inactive metabolites is not considered. Further, many natural products are prodrugs that need to be metabolized in vivo by the intestinal microflora or by mammalian phase I/II metabolism. Frequently, attempts are made to master poor pharmacokinetics by administering the extract intraperitoneally or intravenously, clearly moving away from the traditional oral application. In this review article, it is proposed that preclinical testing strategies of botanicals should start with the in vivo examination of extracts in relevant animal models to substantiate the ethnopharmacological/ethnopharmaceutical use, followed by bioguided fractionation processes using an adequate in vitro model, further followed by pharmacokinetic studies and final in vivo testing of isolated compounds. With our article we would like to encourage authors, reviewers and editors to implement this strategy for the design of experiments and for the reviewing and editing process of manuscripts.read more
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Discovery and resupply of pharmacologically active plant-derived natural products: A review.
Atanas G. Atanasov,Birgit Waltenberger,Eva-Maria Pferschy-Wenzig,Thomas Linder,Christoph Wawrosch,Pavel Uhrin,Veronika Temml,Limei Wang,Stefan Schwaiger,Elke H. Heiss,Judith M. Rollinger,Judith M. Rollinger,Daniela Schuster,Johannes M. Breuss,Valery N. Bochkov,Marko D. Mihovilovic,Brigitte Kopp,Rudolf Bauer,Verena M. Dirsch,Hermann Stuppner +19 more
TL;DR: While the intrinsic complexity of natural product-based drug discovery necessitates highly integrated interdisciplinary approaches, the reviewed scientific developments, recent technological advances, and research trends clearly indicate that natural products will be among the most important sources of new drugs in the future.
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Best practice in research - Overcoming common challenges in phytopharmacological research
Michael Heinrich,Giovanni Appendino,Thomas Efferth,Robert Fürst,Angelo A. Izzo,Oliver Kayser,John M. Pezzuto,Alvaro M. Viljoen +7 more
TL;DR: This consensus document provides a perspective on what constitutes best practice in pharmacological research on bioactive preparations derived from natural sources, providing a perspective of what the leading specialist journals in the field consider as the core characteristics of good research.
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A practical guide for transparent reporting of research on natural products in the British Journal of Pharmacology: Reproducibility of natural product research.
Angelo A. Izzo,Mauro M. Teixeira,Stephen P.H. Alexander,Giuseppe Cirino,James R. Docherty,Christopher H. George,Paul A. Insel,Yong Ji,David A Kendall,Reynold A Panattieri,Christopher G. Sobey,S. Clare Stanford,Barbara Stefanska,Gary J. Stephens,Amrita Ahluwalia +14 more
TL;DR: This editorial illustrates major requirements that authors should consider before submitting articles to BJP and highlights some common shortcomings in natural product pharmacological research, which could be prevented if experiments have appropriate planning and experimental design.
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Animal Models of Inflammation for Screening of Anti-inflammatory Drugs: Implications for the Discovery and Development of Phytopharmaceuticals.
Kalpesh R. Patil,Umesh B Mahajan,Banappa S. Unger,Sameer N. Goyal,Sateesh Belemkar,Sanjay J. Surana,Shreesh Ojha,Chandragouda R. Patil +7 more
TL;DR: The present review describes various techniques of anti-inflammatory drug screening with its advantages and limitations, elaboration on biological targets of phytoconstituents in inflammation and biomarkers for the prediction of adverse effects ofAnti-inflammatory drugs.
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Management of diabetic complications: A chemical constituents based approach
TL;DR: Various medicinal plants/plant extracts containing flavonoids, alkaloids, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, saponins and phytosterol type chemical constituents were found to be effective in the management of diabetic complications.
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