1.Mayo clinic: a patent on the atun tree nut, 2. Herbs for farm animals

[Guest guest]

Two articles here, one on a patent that the mayo clinic has obtained on the

medicinal properties of the atun tree nut. I didn't realize you could have

a patent on a plant!!

The second article is great, and long if you are thinking of downloading it

(56 pages). Currently used herbs on farm animals in British Columbia,

Canada.

1. Ancient folk herbs show new promise

A few years ago, Buenz came across a 17th-century book on herbal

medicine.

And he wondered if its ancient folk wisdom could withstand a little

scientific scrutiny.

So Buenz, then a graduate student at the Mayo Clinic, and a colleague

decided to test a tree extract that the book claimed could cure diarrhea.

What they found was that the potion, made from the nuts of the atun tree,

works a lot like an antibiotic, killing various types of bacteria.

And in a report in the British Medical Journal this month, they explain how

a 300-year-old text by a Dutch naturalist named Rumphius could help

scientists in their search for new and better drugs.

" It was lost traditional knowledge, " Buenz said.

Buenz, 29, traveled to Samoa to collect the nuts and consult with shamans.

" And we tested it and it worked. "

Mayo and the scientists have obtained a patent on the medicinal properties

of the atun tree nut, in hopes someone might develop it into a drug.

" Our findings, " they wrote in the journal, " show that potential drugs can be

identified by searching historical herbal texts. "

In a way it's not surprising, because many prescription drugs come from

natural substances, said Dr. Brent Bauer, one of the co-authors and director

of the Mayo Clinic's complementary and integrative medicine program.

" There's a reason why they chose the plants they did, why they prepared them

the way they did, " he said of traditional healers. " The fact that we can

somewhat validate ancient knowledge is cool because a lot of this ancient

knowledge is disappearing. "

Burning manuscripts

In this case, the " ancient knowledge " probably would have disappeared if not

for the dogged persistence of Georg Everhard Rumphius, a mercenary with the

Dutch East India Company, whose story is recounted in the Dec. 23 British

Medical Journal article.

In 1657, he started collecting plants on the Indonesian island of Ambon and

recording their medicinal uses in a text that he illustrated himself. Thirty

years later, his manuscripts burned in a fire.

" At that point I'd be reaching for the Prozac or something, " Bauer said. " He

goes back and just starts writing it all over again. "

Rumphius, who was then blind, dictated the second manuscript and

commissioned new illustrations. But this, too, was destroyed when the ship

transporting the book to Holland was sunk by the French navy.

Rather than " surrender to despair, " the authors note, he reworked his

surviving notes and completed seven volumes of the book, called Ambonese

Herbal.

Fast forward to the 21st century: The surviving copies were essentially

gathering dust in rare-book collections until a Dutch-language professor

decided to translate part of the text into English.

And Buenz stumbled onto the translation at a botanical library in Hawaii.

Buenz, a scientist who had studied folk medicine while on a fellowship in

Samoa, was fascinated.

He and Bauer searched the Rumphius text for references to herbal medicines,

and compared them to a database of known medicinal plants. The atun

nut/diarrhea treatment was a new one, so they decided to test it.

'An historic Bengay'

Buenz, who now owns his own research company called BioSciential in

Rochester, returned to Samoa, where healers use the nut to make a

sweet-smelling massage oil for sore muscles -- " an historic Bengay, " he

said, laughing.

He returned to the United States with the nut, ground it up and mixed it

with alcohol. In the lab, it killed two types of bacteria, Staphylococcus

and Enterococcus (but didn't touch the E. coli).

For now, they don't know if it will work beyond the test tube. " That's the

million-dollar question, " Bauer said.

If anything ever comes of it, he added, they would share the profits with

the native healers who helped them.

But the larger message, he said, is that there may be more to learn from the

ancients.

" It should keep us somewhat humble, " he said.

Maura Lerner • • mlerner@...

2. BioMed Central

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The following new article has just been published in Journal of Ethnobiology

and Ethnomedicine

Research

Ethnoveterinary medicines used for ruminants in British Columbia, Canada

Lans C, N, Khan T, Brauer G, Boepple W

Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 2007 3:11 ( 26 February 2007 )

[Abstract] [Provisional PDF]

http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/pdf/1746-4269-3-11.pdf

Abstract (provisional)

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted

PDF and HTML versions are in production.

Background

The use of medicinal plants is an option for livestock farmers who are not

allowed to use allopathic drugs under certified organic programs or cannot

afford to use allopathic drugs for minor health problems of livestock.

Methods

In 2003 we conducted semi-structured interviews with 60 participants

obtained using a purposive sample. Medicinal plants are used to treat a

range of conditions. A draft manual prepared from the data was then

evaluated by participants at a participatory workshop.

Results

There are 128 plants used for ruminant health and diets, representing

several plant families. The following plants are used for abscesses:

Berberis aquifolium / Mahonia aquifolium Echinacea purpurea, Symphytum

officinale, Bovista pila, Bovista plumbea, Achillea millefolium and Usnea

longissima. Curcuma longa L., Salix scouleriana and Salix lucida are used

for caprine arthritis and caprine arthritis encephalitis. Euphrasia

officinalis and Matricaria chamomilla are used for eye problems. Wounds and

injuries are treated with Bovista spp., Usnea longissima, Calendula

officinalis, Arnica sp., Malva sp., Prunella vulgaris, Echinacea purpurea,

Berberis aquifolium / Mahonia aquifolium, Achillea millefolium, Capsella

bursa-pastoris, Hypericum perforatum, Lavandula officinalis, Symphytum

officinale and Curcuma longa. Syzygium aromaticum and Pseudotsuga menziesii

are used for coccidiosis. The following plants are used for diarrhea and

scours: Plantago major, Calendula officinalis, Urtica dioica, Symphytum

officinale, Pinus ponderosa, Potentilla pacifica, Althaea officinalis,

Anethum graveolens, Salix alba and Ulmus fulva. Mastitis is treated with

Achillea millefolium, Arctium lappa, Salix alba, Teucrium scorodonia and

Galium aparine. Anethum graveolens and Rubus sp., are given for increased

milk production. Taraxacum officinale, Zea mays, and Symphytum officinale

are used for udder edema. Ketosis is treated with Gaultheria shallon,

Vaccinium sp., and Symphytum officinale. Hedera helix and Alchemilla

vulgaris are fed for retained placenta.

Conclusions

Some of the plants showing high levels of validity were Hedera helix for

retained placenta and Euphrasia officinalis for eye problems. Plants with

high validity for wounds and injuries included Hypericum perforatum, Malva

parviflora and Prunella vulgaris. Treatments with high validity against

endoparasites included those with Juniperus communis and Pinus ponderosa.

Anxiety and pain are well treated with officinalis and Nepeta

caesarea.

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Gallant, BSc, MNIMH, MCPP

Medical Herbalist

Canada