RxPG News Feed for RxPG News

Medical Research Health Special Topics World
  Home
 
   Health
 Aging
 Asian Health
 Events
 Fitness
 Food & Nutrition
 Happiness
 Men's Health
 Mental Health
 Occupational Health
 Parenting
 Public Health
 Sleep Hygiene
 Women's Health
 
   Healthcare
 Africa
 Australia
 Canada Healthcare
 China Healthcare
 India Healthcare
 New Zealand
 South Africa
 UK
 USA
 World Healthcare
 
   Latest Research
 Aging
 Alternative Medicine
 Anaethesia
 Biochemistry
 Biotechnology
 Cancer
 Cardiology
 Clinical Trials
 Cytology
 Dental
 Dermatology
 Embryology
 Endocrinology
 ENT
 Environment
 Epidemiology
 Gastroenterology
 Genetics
 Gynaecology
 Haematology
 Immunology
 Infectious Diseases
 Medicine
 Metabolism
 Microbiology
 Musculoskeletal
 Nephrology
 Neurosciences
 Obstetrics
 Ophthalmology
 Orthopedics
 Paediatrics
 Pathology
 Pharmacology
 Physiology
 Physiotherapy
 Psychiatry
 Radiology
 Rheumatology
  Arthritis
   Ankylosing Spondylitis
   Osteoarthritis
   Rheumatiod Arthritis
  Scleroderma
 Sports Medicine
 Surgery
 Toxicology
 Urology
 
   Medical News
 Awards & Prizes
 Epidemics
 Launch
 Opinion
 Professionals
 
   Special Topics
 Ethics
 Euthanasia
 Evolution
 Feature
 Odd Medical News
 Climate

Last Updated: Oct 11, 2012 - 10:22:56 PM
Arthritis Channel

subscribe to Arthritis newsletter
Latest Research : Rheumatology : Arthritis

   EMAIL   |   PRINT
Is Devil's Claw the key to treating arthritis?

Aug 17, 2009 - 3:48:25 PM
They took the plant's roots and infected them with the A. rhizogenes soil bacteria -- a natural genetic engineer -- to create a system of hairy roots to produce the plant's key medicinal chemicals, says a release of the American Chemical Society -.

 
[RxPG] Deep in Africa's Kalahari desert lies the Devil's Claw, a plant that may hold the key to effective treatments for arthritis, tendonitis and other illnesses that affect millions each year.

In the US, Devil's Claw extracts are in phase-II clinical trials for the treatment of hip and knee arthritis. Other promising uses are not far behind.

But while the demand for these beneficial compounds is increasing, the supply of natural Devil's Claw is dwindling, thanks to years of drought, which have pushed the plant towards extinction.

Scientists have now successfully reproduced active ingredients in the Devil's Claw. Their technique may eventually lead to the development of 'bio-factories' that could produce huge quantities of rare plant extracts quickly and at little cost.

Milen I. Georgiev, a scientist who organises and teaches environment protection courses and schools in Bulgaria, pointed out that for thousands of years, native populations in southern Africa have used the Devil's Claw as a remedy for a huge number of ailments, including fever, diarrhoea and blood diseases.

Today, there are dozens of medicinal and herbal products around the world that are based on chemicals derived from the plant.

In particular, studies suggest that two chemicals -- iridoid glycosides harpagoside and harpagide -- may have beneficial effects in the treatment of degenerative rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, tendonitis, and other conditions, Georgiev said.

'In Germany, 57 pharmaceutical products based on Devil's Claw, marketed by 46 different companies, have cumulative sales volumes alone worth more than $40 million,' Georgiev noted.

Currently, more than 25 percent of all prescribed medicines used in the industrialised countries are derived either directly or indirectly from plants, many of which are rare and sometimes endangered.

Hairy root, an infectious plant disease caused by the soil bacteria Agrobacterium rhizogenes, is at the core of a promising new technique that could one day lead to 'biofactories' that produce medicines derived from rare plants in huge quantities at a low cost.

Georgiev notes that hairy roots are a big improvement over traditional, greenhouse-based plant culturing. Georgiev and team are the first to induce hairy root cultures of Devil's Claw.

They took the plant's roots and infected them with the A. rhizogenes soil bacteria -- a natural genetic engineer -- to create a system of hairy roots to produce the plant's key medicinal chemicals, says a release of the American Chemical Society -.

These findings were reported at the 238th national meeting of the ACS.




Advertise in this space for $10 per month. Contact us today.


Related Arthritis News
DNA-covered submicroscopic bead used to deliver genes to treat rheumatoid arthritis
Rilonacept significantly reduced acute gout flares during uric acid-lowering therapy
Advances in genetics related to ankylosing spondylitis
Is Devil's Claw the key to treating arthritis?
High birth weight - risk for rheumatoid arthritis
Matrilin-3 gene discovered to prevent onset of osteoarthritis
Rituximab halts damage to joints
Tocilizumab effective in systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA)
Unfavourable blood fat levels predict rheumatoid arthritis up to 10 years later
Role of inflammatory leukocytes in extending tissue damage

Subscribe to Arthritis Newsletter

Enter your email address:


 Feedback
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send any medical news or health news press releases, use feedback form

Top of Page

 
Contact us

RxPG Online

Nerve

 

    Full Text RSS

© All rights reserved by RxPG Medical Solutions Private Limited (India)