The Role Of Natural Products In Environmental Toxicology And Health.
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Date
2013-03-14
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Abstract
Many of natural products have been studied as crude extracts. Many active ingredients have also been purified and their chemical structures have been elucidated. Yet in most cases there is a paucity of information regarding their biological activity. Natural products have been tested widely in the ceArol of a number of parasitic diseases around the globe. In the control of malaria various chemicals have been tested for controlling
the mosquito vector e.g. extracts of neem. Several other natural compounds have also been tested for possible control of the parasite itself e.g. quinine and artemisinin (a sesquiterpene lactone) which have shown tremendous potential in the control of malaria. Aquatic mollusks transmit a number of other parasitic diseases such as schistosomiasis and fascioliasis in the tropics. A number of different compounds belonging to a variety of different chemical classes have been tested for their efficacy as molluscicides e.g. Azadirachta indica, Cedrus deodara, Allium sativum. Natural products have also been shown to affect animals in their natural ecosystems. There are a number of compounds that have been shown to affect reptilian species e.g. cinnamaldehyde and geranyl acetate. Other compounds such as genestitin, naringenin and zearalenone cause physiological systems in animals. Although the compounds have adverse effects in certain organisms they have beneficial effects in others. The mechanisms by which these natural compounds affect organisms are many and diverse. Such mechanisms include alteration of enzyme activities, receptor binding and macromolecular integrity. Altered enzyme activity includes key detoxication enzymes (xenobiotic metabolism) as well as those involved in intermediary metabolism. Altered binding to receptors of the endocrine system is an emerging area of research (endocrine disruption). Damage to DNA is also a possible target of natural compounds. While there is a large body of information on the effects of anthropogenic compounds on the above targets there is much less data available on the effects of natural products. More recently there is an upsurge in the effects of natural compounds on these targets and this paper will provide examples of the currently available information.
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Presented at the Afassa Regional Symposium on Natural Products in June 2004.
Keywords
Toxicology, Natural Products, Health, Ecosystem