ABSTRACT
Viral diseases, including emerging and chronic viruses, are an increasing worldwide health concern. As a consequence, the discovery of new antiviral agents from plants has assumed more urgency than in the past. A number of native Amazonian medicines of plant origin are known to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity, although only a few have been studied for their antiviral properties and immunomodulating effects. Those most studied include: Sangre de Grado (drago) (Croton lechleri) in the Euphorbiaceae family and Una de Gato (Uncaria tomentosa) in the Rubiaceae family. This article reviews the chemical composition, pharmacological properties, state of current research, clinical use, and potential antiviral and immunomodulating activity of these and other plants from the Peruvian Amazon.
Subject(s)
Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use , Cat's Claw/chemistry , Croton/chemistry , Phytotherapy , Virus Diseases/drug therapy , Antibody Formation/drug effects , Humans , Immunity, Cellular/drug effects , PeruABSTRACT
Stocks of intestinal amoebae grown in monoxenic culture, were compared against each other and against those previously reported from Mexico City. These were isolated from subjects in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas (rural area) and hospital patients in Merida, Yucatan (urban area). Electrophoretic patterns of the four enzymes: glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI), phosphoglucomutase (PGM), L-malate: NADP+ oxido-reductase (oxalacetate-decarboxylating) (ME) and hexokinase (HK) demonstrated the presence of five groups (zymodemes) of Entamoeba histolytica already described from Mexico City, together with two new zymodemes, one of which gave a recognizable pathogenic pattern, whilst the other gave a contradictory pattern. Zymodemes of Entamoeba coli, Entamoeba hartmanni, Iodamoeba buetschlii and Dientamoeba fragilis, previously described were also isolated. One new zymodeme of D. fragilis was demonstrated.
Subject(s)
Amebiasis/epidemiology , Entamoebiasis/epidemiology , Animals , Entamoeba histolytica/enzymology , Entamoeba histolytica/isolation & purification , Entamoebiasis/parasitology , Feces/parasitology , Humans , Isoenzymes/analysis , Mexico , Pilot Projects , Rural Population , Urban PopulationSubject(s)
Child , Adolescent , Adult , Humans , Entamoeba histolytica , Isoenzymes , Amebiasis , Electrophoresis, Starch GelABSTRACT
Stocks of intestinal amoebae isolated from hospital patients in Mexico City and grown in monoxenic culture were compared among themselves and with those already described (SARGEAUNT & WILLIAMS, 1979), using the electrophoretic patterns of four enzymes: glucose phosphate isomerase (GPI), phosphoglucomutase (PGM), L-malate:NADP+ oxido-reductase (oxalacetate-decarboxylating) (ME) and hexokinase (HK). New isoenzyme groups (SARGEAUNT & WILLIAMS, 1979) of all the amoebae, including Entamoeba histolytica have been demonstrated. Amongst these have been found seven more groups of E. histolytica, two new groups of E. hartmanni, one new group of Dientamoeba fragilis and one new group of E. coli. Of the seven new groups of E. histolytica three are known to originate from patients with clinical amoebiasis whilst the remainder are from asymptomatic subjects. Only 11.2% of the 125 isolations were associated with clinical amoebiasis, and these are clearly distinguished from the isolations from asymptomatic patients by their electrophoretic isoenzyme pattern.