Some use raw plants for medicine

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060622/LIFESTYLE/606220407

Since there are many dangers in doing so, a reputable vendor is key in buying herbs.
Audrey Edwards / Washington Post
With an estimated 19 percent of Americans using herbal medicines and other dietary supplements, jars of capsules and tablets crowd grocery and drugstore shelves. But in some areas, particularly in ethnic communities, many people buy their medicinal herbs in raw plant form.
People with roots in China, Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent often use herbs in this form because of cultural tradition, because they're less expensive than processed supplements or because some herbs are not available as extracts. Experts say many people also make the mistake of thinking "natural" products are safe, although medicinal herbs can be toxic and are subject to only loose government regulation.
While herbal medicines in any form pose risks, those purchased raw may pose some additional dangers, according to physician Steven Bratman, chief author of a comprehensive herb database, The Natural Pharmacist (TNP) Natural Medicine Encyclopedia.
Because raw plants are not subjected to the kind of chemical analysis that manufacturers generally perform when processing extracts, Bratman says, potency may vary. Some herbal mixes, such as those used in Chinese medicine, he says, contain plants in the Aristolochia family, which can be toxic to the kidneys. Indian herbal medicines, he says, may contain heavy metals -- such as lead, mercury and arsenic -- that also can be toxic. Some toxic plants may also be mistaken for harmless ones, particularly given that some plants go by several names.
Sometimes, vendors sell whole plants, sometimes just the roots, leaves, bark or fruit. Some herbs (such as holy basil leaves, an Indian herb) are eaten fresh; some, such as the berries of Chinese qi chi, or wolfberry, are brewed into a tea; some are mixed together into soups and tonics. Just as with many processed supplements, there's no proof of effectiveness for many of these traditional products.
While the Food and Drug Administration governs sales of medicinal herbs in plant form, just as it does bottled supplements, current laws treat them more like foods than drugs and don't guarantee that products are safe, effective, pure or meet any specified standards.
Herbalist Yiping Hu, who has clinics in Bethesda, Md., and Washington, D.C., says the suppliers of her herbs wash and boil them in licorice or wine to remove toxins. But William Obermeyer, vice president for research of ConsumerLab.com, which evaluates dietary supplements and other products, warns that inadequate processing of herbs could allow toxins to remain. Similarly, he says, fungus, mold or toxins could be present in plants that were not washed or dried properly before packing and shipping.
Misidentification of herbs can also pose a danger. Obermeyer cited a 1997 case in which a woman was hospitalized with an irregular heart rate after taking what she thought was an herbal laxative. An investigation found that, instead of containing plantain, the product contained digitalis, an herb capable of causing cardiac arrest. The supplier later said he had misidentified the herb in its raw form.
One way to avoid misidentification, says Obermeyer, is to find reputable herbal vendors.
"It is about trusting the person who is putting the herbs into the bag," he says. Herbal medicines can also interact dangerously with prescription drugs. Experts urge patients to consult their doctors before trying any herbal products.
Smile Herb Shop in College Park, Md., grows some of the herbal plants it sells, including holy basil and rue. Co-owner Tom Wolfe says his rue, used by Hispanics and Sephardic Jews to treat digestive problems, was snapped up quickly when it went up for sale in May.
Da Hsin Trading Co., in Washington's Chinatown, sells a variety of dried Chinese herbs, either stored in jars (dong quai, for example) or prepackaged (wild chrysanthemum flower). Herbs are sold by weight and can usually be bought individually or in a combination, depending on the intended use. Lixing Lao, director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine's Center for Integrative Medicine, says the Chinese often boil herbs with chicken, pork or beef in the name of general health maintenance.
Twice a day, Iantha Gantt-Wright, a 51-year-old diversity consultant, drinks a combination of Chinese herbs that she buys from Hu to boost her immune system. "I'm more worried about using conventional medicine. I stopped using it when I was in my twenties," she says. "Herbs make me feel safer."
Because nearly anyone can call himself an herbalist, Lao advises consumers to use those credentialed by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Members of the American Herbalists Guild, says Wolfe, also have advanced education and knowledge of medicinal use of plants.

HEALTH: Alternative healing by treating like with like

http://www.peterboroughnow.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=845&ArticleID=1581575

RICHARD Norwell's young son was playing happily on the floor one quiet afternoon, when his face turned a shocking shade of red.
He collapsed, his pupils dilated, he was complaining of a severe headache and became sensitive to light, noise and movement. He was also running a scarily high temperature, and soon became delirious.In this situation, most parents would be feeling sick with panic and dialling 999.But Richard kept a cool head. He had just started his training at the College of Practical Homoeopathy in London, and recognised his son's symptoms to be similar to those produced by the natural poison belladonna, and so gave his son a dose of the homeopathic remedy belladonna.His son started to calm down, his temperature dropped, and he slid out of his delirious state.After a couple of hours' sleep the lad was up and playing again, as though nothing had happened.When Richard took his son to a GP the following day, his doctor suggested the symptoms could have been the onset of meningitis.Prince Charles is mad on it, but not many of us know what homeopathy is, probably thinking of needles (acupuncture), chi (reiki) and foot massage (reflexology) as every alternative therapy merges into one in our minds.Richard's experience with his son sums the principals behind it up perfectly.Homeopathy is a 200-year-old form of "natural medicine" which works by treating "like with like".Richard said: "It works using 'the law of similars' or 'like cures like'. This law states that a substance that can cause a disease can also relieve it."He was able to see such a quick change in his son as acute illnesses come on quickly, and so also have the potential to turn themselves around very quickly using natural remedies.The opposite is true of chronic illnesses, such as diabetes or asthma.Richard has hundreds of people on his books at any time, with new patients of all ages, from all walks of life, coming every week.Some might need to see him once or twice, while others may need to see him several times to have their treatments changed as their condition changes.He spends an hour talking to each person about their life and emotions, and their likes and dislikes, so that he can "treat the whole person, not just their symptoms".He will then put a couple of drops of a remedy on to some pills using the hundreds of remedies he keeps in tiny vials in his consulting room.These treatments, such as eyebright and arsenicum, are available in Boots and other health shops, but Richard said you have to know exactly what to take, and which dose, or you might not get the desired result. His route into homeopathy was an unconventional one, as he spent more than 20 years fixing cars at Donald's in Burghley Road, before deciding to take on the much trickier task of fixing people's health.In 1992 he decided to go to what is now the Centre for Homeopathic Education, which he graduated from in 1999. The principal there, Gordon Sambidge, is Richard's mentor and homeo-path, as it is almost impossible to treat yourself effectively.His business has grown steadily, with people coming to him with all kinds of mental, emotional and physical complaints, from depression through to dealing with the symptoms of chemotherapy.One of Richard's most poignant success stories was a seven-year-old girl whose periods had started. She was developing breasts, and suffering mood swings every month.He said: "Her mother took her to a GP who referred her to a consultant. While they were waiting they came to me."During six months her symptoms all but disappeared, and when she went to see the consultant she was already changing for the better."The consultant said she should continue the homeopathic treatment as well as seeing him every six months."It took Richard between five to six months to get her periods to stop, although he continued to support her over the next three years."Her mother told me I had given her her baby back," he said.n Richard, at the Park Ward Homeopathic Practice, is available on 01733 560664.For more information, see the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths' website at www.a-r-h.orgBelief that the body will heal itselfREG and Paula Miller have been taking their three young daughters to Richard Norwell for years, as they believe the human body has a natural ability to heal itself. Richard has helped Honor (11), Eve (9) and seven-year-old Grace through various childhood ailments. Reg said: "Paula and I found ourselves taking the children to the doctor, and being offered antibiotics. "But when we asked the doctors if they would actually give their child antibiotics for the same condition, they would often say no." Concerned about antibiotics and any possible effects on their growing children's immune systems, the couple looked at alternative therapies. Reg said: "Our eldest daughter had several cases of recurring tonsillitis. "We did some research, and found that tonsils are very important, the body's first line of defence. We decided she was born with tonsils, and so should keep them." The couple sought the help of Richard, and he spoke with them at length about Honor's condition, as homeopathy is all about a "whole body" approach to a problem, and developing a treatment that is tailored to the individual. He helped with natural remedies which had an immediate effect and improved her condition within four months or so. with very little recurrence. "We would only take the girls to the doctors if we became concerned that something major was wrong or if they became listless, unresponsive or were in severe pain", he said."The body can heal itself if you have a good diet and no major health problems".

Doctor uses natural medicine to bring body into balance

http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060622/NEWS03/606220479

BY CAROL MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
A few years ago Tom Leib was like a lot of people who think natural medicine is hocus pocus.
"I thought it was hogwash," Leib said.
But his wife at the time swore by the herbs and oils she was using.
"It seemed like they were doing her a lot of good. She was feeling great, so I thought there must be something to these things and I checked them out myself," Leib said.
And he felt better. A lot better. He felt so much better that he started researching how to become a distributor for a company that produces the oils he uses. But the more Leib learned, the more he wanted to learn, and the next thing he knew he was enrolled in classes and working toward his degree in naturopathy.
It took four years for Leib to earn his doctorate in naturopathy, a practice which uses natural remedies - herbs, oils and plants - to help bring the body into balance. He uses methods such as muscle testing and examination of the retina to identify strengths and weaknesses in the body, and then uses the remedies to help bring balance and make the body stronger, according to Leib.
Most of Leib's clients only seek him out when they find that what they know as traditional medicine hasn't worked for them.
"They come to me after they've seen doctors who prescribe medicines for them, but the medicines don't make them feel better," Leib said.
"The reason they're not feeling better is because medications don't treat the root of the problem. They don't bring balance to the body."
Still, Leib is not about to bad-mouth hospitals and medical doctors, even though you won't find Leib at a hospital. He works by day as a maintenance engineer for General Motors (where his colleagues call him "Herby"), and runs his practice out of his home.
"They are valuable too. If you're in a car accident, for example, you don't want to see me," Leib said. "You need to be at a hospital where they can fix you fast. What I do takes time."
The change is often so gradual that his patients think the remedies aren't working, and stop taking the herbs.
"Then all of a sudden they aren't feeling well," Leib said. "People are amazed. They don't realize that they ever felt so bad. It's amazing how much bad we will tolerate if we don't know it can be better."
For more information, call Tom Leib at (734) 398-5985 or e-mail him at tom.leib@juno.com.

Passion for Health Fuels Strong Growth for City Herbal Company Cape Argus (Cape Town) NEWS

http://allafrica.com/stories/200606200194.html

June 19, 2006 Posted to the web June 20, 2006 By Jeanne Viall
From a small health centre started in Wynberg 12 years ago, Bioharmony has grown into a leading producer of quality herbal and nutritional supplements
The dynamo behind Bioharmony is CEO Maria Ascencao, who is committed to health - not only of her own company, but to the public and her employees.
The original list of eight products she started off with has grown to 80, and Bioharmony's turnover is expected to be R30 million this year, 50% up from last year.
"We've grown 50% year-on- year for the last three years," Ascencao says.
She ascribes the growth to new product developments coming on track, increased consumer awareness, and a growing brand loyalty.
It's a tough market, with more and more competitors jumping aboard the health supplement bandwagon, but her strength, she says, is her commitment to ethical business and maintaining a high quality product manufactured under pharmaceutical conditions.
"It means I'm not the biggest or richest company in the field, but absolutely refuse to lower the quality of my products. I'm building a brand, this company sustains a lot of people, and it's about health. You can't compromise. And I know I've driven people crazy with that standard."
Ascencao's drive to make a difference to people's health comes from a personal experience of cancer when she was 28 years old.
"I knew nothing about natural medicine, but when the conventional treatment
wasn't working and the prognosis was bad, I went on a natural health journey. It saved my life.
"I did a 180° turn, and I became a different person with different goals."
Ascencao had a marketing background and had been working in property development. But she wanted others to benefit from an integrated approach to health, as she had, and so she started a health centre in Wynberg with practitioners such as a naturopath, homeopath and chiropractor.
It's still there, and now includes a traditional healer.
"What we found was that the quality of products needed, particularly by naturopaths, was not available.
"And so we created eight formulations and sold them at the centre."
Then she cold-canvassed the retail market, going from health shop to health pharmacy to doctors, introducing the products.
"It was quite a journey. If I knew then what I do now, I probably wouldn't have done it," she says.
"But the one thing I did know was that they had to be manufactured in a pharmaceutical laboratory."
Today, her range incorporates herbals, vitamins and functional foods (such as a breakfast shake) and she works in association with leading British nutritionist Patrick Holford.
Ascencao employs 55 people in her business, most of them women. And that wasn't by design. "Women are great at paying attention to detail," she says, "and seem to be naturally drawn to the health industry."
Many of her employees were unskilled when they were employed, and were in desperate situations. "I know what it's like, I was also a single mother," she says.
Essential to business success is to have a passion for what you do. "Passion is the energy that fuels you."
And have a business plan. "I didn't, I had no understanding of financials. And you need stamina - mental, physical and even spiritual. There are lot of challenges in managing a business. You need to believe in yourself and what you're doing, and be willing to work 12 to 18 hours a day."
And don't forget the administration work, she warns, which can easily happen when you run a small business and are focused on your big ideas but forget to pay attention to the fine details, such as PAYE and VAT.
Ascencao says she learned through her mistakes, and trial and error.
"And I'm an avid reader of anything financial. I'd also advise people to join business associations - there's a lot of information and support."
Bioharmony's products are exported to five countries in Africa, the UK, the US and the United Arab Emirates.
"Export is a small component, but it's growing.
"There's a lot that South Africa can offer the world. I'm interested in African herbals, and if we can grow this side we can create jobs, honour traditional healers and bring health and wellness to Africa."
Staff are central to her business, and all staff get health training, not only in HIV/Aids, but in all areas.
Ascencao makes it her business to know what's happening in her staff's lives, and offers support such as time off if needed.
"I'm transparent with them, I always share the ups and downs of the business."
In line with her health ethos, staff are given wholesome food for breakfast and lunch, as well as supplements for themselves and their families.
"Although the expense may seem high, we have very productive people." And a low absenteeism rate.
Last year Bioharmony became part of the Enaleni Group, a BEE pharmaceutical company.
"I believe it will help us grow. And Enaleni say we are their conscience. That's a compliment."
Ascencao has had to make some changes in her business structure as there are more reports to write, more financial management, and meetings.
"It's improved the way we do things," she says.
It's a challenging market - as in other industries, imports of cheap and poor quality raw materials from China are a threat.
But, she says, opportunities are endless, especially in educating people about healthy living.
Her passion for that remains as fiery as ever.

U.S. chief for Jurlique

http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19421532%255E913,00.html

10jun06
AN American entrepreneur has been employed to head the former Mt Barker-based cosmetics company, Jurlique.Eli Halliwell, 35, is a former Wall St analyst and dot-com entrepreneur who, for the past five years, has been managing Estee Lauder's Bumble and Bumble hair-care division.
Jurlique was founded in 1983 by scientist and naturopath Jurgen Klein and his wife, Ulrike.
All of its products are made from organically grown ingredients sourced from farms at Mt Barker and Mylor.
The firm moved its head office to Sydney last June in order to drive its international growth.

Yoga is the best medicine

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3283185

by Pat Sullivan
Women going through treatment for breast cancer feel better when they try yoga, according to one of the first scientific studies of its kind."Our belief was that something as simple and brief as a short (yoga) programme would be very useful" at combating side effects from cancer treatment, said Lorenzo Cohen, a psychologist who led the pilot study.Yoga incorporates meditation, relaxation, visualisation, controlled breathing, stretching and physical movements. Although the study was small and preliminary, it's one of the few to try to rigorously measure the benefits of this form of exercise, Cohen said.Researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre focused on 61 women who had had surgery for breast cancer and were undergoing six weeks of radiation treatment.Thirty women were assigned to a test group that took twice-a-week yoga classes. The other 30 did not.At the end of six weeks, study participants filled out detailed questionnaires grading their ability to lift groceries, walk 1,6km and perform other physical activities. They also were asked about any feelings of fatigue, their sense of general well-being and other aspects of their quality of life.Their scores were converted to a scale ranging from 0 to 100. The researchers found the yoga group consistently had higher scores in almost every area.It was most pronounced in physical function - the yoga group had a mean score of about 82, compared with 69 for the other group.Participants said they were in better general health, were less fatigued and had fewer problems with daytime sleepiness.But the researchers found no differences between the groups in measurements of depression or anxiety.The researchers drew blood and took saliva samples in an effort to measure the participants' immune system function and stress levels, but the results were not available yet, said Cohen, who presented the results at a medical conference in Atlanta held by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.A future study would have one group doing stretching and another yoga, to see if there was a difference in the result, Cohen said.Traditionally, such scientific approaches had been lacking in the assessment of yoga's medical benefits, said Alan Kristal, an epidemiology professor at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine.Due in part to increased federal funding for research into alternative therapies, more rigorous studies had emerged in the past three or four years that attempted to provide harder proof, Kristal said.Recent studies have demonstrated the benefits of yoga for cancer patients and people with carpal tunnel syndrome. Kristal co-authored a study last year that found middle-aged people who regularly did yoga lost weight over 10 years while a non-yoga group gained, on average, more than 5,9kg.The National Cancer Institute recently awarded Cohen and his team $2,4-million (about R16-million) to study the effects of Tibetan yoga on women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. It was the largest-ever federal grant for the study of Tibetan yoga in cancer patients.Teresita Ladrillo (52), a Houston breast cancer patient currently taking yoga classes, said the stretching had helped her regain flexibility in her right arm, which was limited by scarring from surgeries and other treatments.Learning to control her breathing through yoga had helped her to calm herself and sleep, she said."Whenever you do yoga, the first thing they tell you is forget everything else and just focus on your breathing," she said. "There's something to be said for being still." - Sapa-AP Published on the web by Star on June 8, 2006.

Stick to traditional medicine'09/06/2006 18:47 - (South Africa)

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,6119,2-7-12_1948598,00.html

Benoni - The traditional medicines sector will soon be recognised in the budget, said health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang on Friday.
Speaking at a traditional medicine workshop in Benoni, Tshabalala-Msimang said her department would speed up the process of establishing an interim traditional health council.
"There is a great deal of literature on traditional medicine in India, the Philippines and China. We need to establish this for African medicine," she said.
Tshabalala-Msimang said developing countries were appreciating the value of traditional medicines and alternative practices, pointing out that Britain's Prince Charles was a supporter of the concept.
On HIV/Aids, where Tshabalala-Msimang's standpoint is the centre of controversy, she said some antiretrovirals can cause cancer.
"We have got to keep all these (side effects) in our minds," she said.
Tshabalala-Msimang later told Sapa that some people had cancer from ARVs but did not elaborate further.
"Let's rather stick to traditional medicine," she said.

Alice Brown seeks to help others see their lives more clearly

http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2006/06/07/business/business03.txt

By Barton Grover Howe Of the News-Times
In the world of diagnosis and healing some people break the world down into two schools of thought: the Western world, with its emphasis on hard data and the scientific method, and the Eastern, which tends to be more focused on the spiritual and a vision that goes beyond normal sight. Historically, these approaches have been worlds apart, although in recent years some have begun to ask where they might overlap.
But Alice Brown at Depoe Bay Optical and Crafts wants to do a lot more than that.
A Depoe Bay optometrist who has spent most of her life as a student and practitioner of Western medicine, in the last few years she's become interested in Eastern and herbal medicine. She sees no reason why they can't work together, and she believes she's someone who can make it work.
"What I see myself doing here is bringing East and West together," she said. "A lot of this has been done with an intuitive base before, but I'm trying to bring it together in a scientific way.
"My background comes from hard science. I went pre-med, pre-optometry. My thinking has always been let's have scientific proof for that, because I believe in the scientific method."
That Brown should choose to delve into more non-traditional types of medicine doesn't really surprise her. "I've always been interested in eastern medicine, acupuncture, acupressure." But when she suffered serious injuries to her head, face and body in a 2004 accident, what was an interest became a passion and a search for answers Western medicine couldn't provide.
"I didn't get much help from the medical profession," she said. "They sewed my face up, but they basically told me to go home and get well.
"That's when I started doing more research; it became real personal."
Some of the manifestations of that research line her office walls. Next to her optometry diploma rest hundreds of books covering subjects like herbs and healing stones, auras and chakras. (In New Age medicine, Chakras are thought to, "be a nexus of metaphysical and/or biophysical energy residing in the human body," according to wikipedia.com.)
Reading and studying her texts, she began to understand how things like herbs and stones could affect the body. Still seeking relief from her own injuries, she experimented for about six months with different combinations to see what worked and what didn't in what she calls "Chakra Packs."
"These aromatherapy packs helped me with my head injury," she said. "It has hyssop, rosemary, white willow, eucalyptus, peppermint and spearmint and flax seed. The exact formula is a trade secret.
"In fact I'm in the process of getting a trademark for all of the nine Chakra Packs that I have."
But Brown is using her background in science to do more than just bring East and West together. She's also trying to combine different Eastern healing systems into one coherent system that can stand up to examination.
For instance, Brown has combined healing stones with her understanding of chakras to produce necklaces which can help the wearer. Her Listening With Wisdom necklace, she said, combines blue lace agate - which has a calming influence - with Lapis Lazuli, a wisdom stone that is also connected to the sixth chakra, whose primary function deals with intuition.
For a more personal necklace, she also incorporates her understanding of numerology. "I make the necklace based on a date of birth and the numerical pattern in their birth name," she said. "Then I tie those numbers to the different charkas, and that gives me the design of the necklace."
On her own necklace, she said each stone cut is for a different year of her life. "I can look at it and say there are the 22 years I practiced optometry, and then I had a total of four years that are transient years." The honey jade in the necklace "makes intellectual things practical," she said, while the citrine helps her to acquire her potential.
"The idea here is that it helps me keep aware of what I'm doing."
One thing Brown said she's already aware of is how getting out the eye-exam business has affected her long-time patients. As of December 2005, she only fills prescriptions, and after 16 years in Depoe Bay, she knows change can be difficult for people - especially when people don't know she's left the business or understand why.
"My two biggest obstacles are getting the world out, so people know I'm doing this," she said. "The second is convincing them to try."
Brown knows her new practice may seem a little unusual to people. And while they might not fully understand everything yet, she does offer more familiar remedies like aromatherapy and a full line of aloe vera products. "It not only helps the skin, it cleans the aura," she said.
In the end, however, Brown doesn't think what she's doing now is that much different than what she was doing before. "Before, when I was an optometrist, I was trying to help them see the world more clearly," she said. "Now I'm trying to help them see their life more clearly.
"I'm trying to heal the body, mind and sprit."
Depoe Bay Optical and Crafts offers eyeglass frames, natural self-healing products and custom comforters. It is located at 10 SE Williams Street and can be contacted at 765-2991.
Barton Grover Howe covers north Lincoln County for the News-Times. He can be contacted at 921-0408 or barton.howe@gmail.com

Gardenia Fruit Compound Starting Point For Diabetes Therapy

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060607084320.htm

A Gardenia fruit extract traditionally used in Chinese medicine to treat the symptoms of type 2 diabetes does indeed contain a chemical that reverses some of the pancreatic dysfunctions that underlie the disease, researchers report in the June 7, 2006, Cell Metabolism. The chemical therefore represents a useful starting point for new diabetes therapies, they said.
Such a drug could offer a big advance, the group added, as no currently available therapy for diabetes actually targets the underlying causes of disease in insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells. Insulin controls blood levels of glucose, the body's main energy source. In those with diabetes, insulin deficiency or insulin resistance causes blood sugar concentrations to rise.
The team discovered that Gardenia extract contains the chemical "genipin." Previously known for its ability to cross-link proteins, they now find that the chemical also blocks the function of the enzyme called uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2) through another mechanism. In both animals and humans, high concentrations of UCP2 appear to inhibit insulin secretion from the pancreas and increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.
"We think the increase in UCP2 activity is an important component of the pathogenesis of diabetes," said Bradford Lowell of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "Our goal therefore was to discover a UCP2 inhibitor capable of working in intact cells, as such an inhibitor could theoretically represent a lead compound for agents aimed at improving beta cell function in type 2 diabetes."
Study coauthor Chen-Yu Zhang's familiarity with traditional Chinese medicine led the team to consider the extract of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis fruits. Pancreas cells taken from normal mice secreted insulin when treated with the extract, they found, whereas the cells of mice lacking UCP2 did not. The results suggested that the extract worked through its effects on the UCP2 enzyme.
"When I first saw the results, I was in disbelief," Lowell said. "I didn't think we could ever be that lucky." However, blinded repetition of the initial experiments confirmed the results every time, he said.
Through a series of chemical analyses, the researchers then zeroed in on genipin as the active compound. Genipin, like the extract, stimulated insulin secretion in control but not UCP2-deficient pancreas cells.
They further found that acute addition of genipin to isolated pancreatic tissue reversed high glucose- and obesity-induced dysfunction of insulin-producing beta cells. A derivative of genipin that lacked the chemical's cross-linking activity continued to inhibit UCP2, they reported.
That's a good sign for the therapeutic potential of genipin-related compounds, according to Lowell, as such indiscriminate cross-linking would likely have adverse effects. However, further work will need to examine whether inhibition of UCP2 itself might also have some negative consequences.
In addition to the possibility of new drugs, the findings might also prove a boon to the use of Gardenia extract itself for the treatment of disease, particularly in eastern Asia, Zhang said.
Irrespective of genipin's potential for clinical applications, its benefits within the scientific community are already clear, Lowell added.
"Genipin represents an extremely useful investigational tool for studying a number of aspects of UCP2 biology," Lowell added. UCP2 plays a role in the process by which food is converted into energy storage molecules by cellular powerhouses called mitochondria in cells throughout the body.
The researchers include Chen-Yu Zhang of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA and Nanjing University in Nanjing, China; Laura E. Parton, Chian Ping Ye, and Bradford B. Lowell of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA; Stefan Krauss of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, and Merck Research Laboratories (present address) in Boston , MA; Ruichao Shen, Cheng-Ting Lin, and John A. Porco, Jr. of Boston University in Boston, MA.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (to B.B.L.) and the American Diabetes Association (Junior Faculty Award), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Outstanding Young Scientist Award 30225037), IRP0430, and National Basic Research Foundation of China (973 Program, 2004CB518603) (to C.-Y.Z).
Zhang et al.: "Genipin inhibits UCP2-mediated proton leak and acutely reverses obesity- and high glucose-induced b cell dysfunction in isolated pancreatic islets." Publishing in Cell Metabolism 3, 417â�"427, June 2006 DOI 10.1016/j.cmet.2006.04.010 www.cellmetabolism.org

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NUTRITION FROM THE LAB: To your health: Probiotics and prebiotics

http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/living/food/14757486.htm?source=rss&channel=grandforks_food

By Wesley Canfield
Canfield
Most of us think of bacteria as harmful and have taken antibiotics for the infections they cause.
However, not all bacteria are harmful in fact some are helpful. For example, some bacteria make vitamins, including B12, folic acid, biotin and K, which may be used by the host. Other bacteria have been implicated in prevention and treatment of certain disorders, including allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome and even colon cancer. We depend on these helpful bacteria even if we don't realize it.
The bacteria that live in the human intestinal tract play an important role in maintaining good health. It is estimated that more than 500 types of bacteria may be found at any time in any particular person's colon. Some are potentially harmful, but are only present in small numbers, and are kept at bay by the other numerous bacteria. If certain conditions change, for example, prolonged treatment with antibiotics, then the balance between the harmful and helpful bacteria may change, resulting in overgrowth of the harmful types. That condition holds potential for disease.
The term biotic is from the Greek word, meaning "life." Antibiotics are, therefore, "against life." Probiotic means "for life." This term refers to a viable bacterial supplement that benefits the health of the host.
For example, lactose or milk sugar intolerance is relatively common. People who lack the intestinal enzyme, lactase, cannot digest lactose to its component sugars (glucose and galactose), which can then be absorbed. As a consequence, the lactose travels intact to the colon, where bacteria ferment it to hydrogen and carbon dioxide gas. This may result in some intestinal discomfort, and at times socially embarrassing consequences. By consuming a supplement containing lactase-producing lactobacillus bacteria found in some yogurts, the symptoms of lactose fermentation can be decreased.
Prebiotics ("before life") are nondigestible or fiber components of foods, usually complex carbohydrates that beneficially affect the host by stimulating the growth of intestinal bacteria. Certain bacteria prefer a particular prebiotic to use as a source of energy. The bifidobacteria family prefers complex sugar chains of fructose or galactose. Including such prebiotics in the diet provides a competitive advantage to these bacteria compared with others.
What health advantage is there for humans to have more of these bacteria in the colon?
The answer may be found in a fact of nature. Breast-fed infants carry bifidobacteria as their predominant colon bacteria. Their dominance is maintained in part by a prebiotic (long-chain galactose) present in breast milk. Infants exclusively breast-fed may be protected from rotavirus infection because of the dominance of bifidobacteria (estimated at 10 times greater than in formula-fed infants). Rotavirus is a major cause of severe diarrhea in infants. Feeding pregnant mice bifidobacteria while nursing their pups, provided protection against rotavirus infection. This protection was in the form of immunoglobulins directed against the virus.
In addition to making vitamins, intestinal bacteria also produce other nutrients of benefit. We've all heard advice about limiting our intake of fats, especially saturated ones. However, not all saturated fats are bad for us. Many of the gut bacteria ferment digestion-resistant fiber to short-chain saturated fatty acids. These fats have two to four carbon atoms.
Acetate, propionate and butyrate all are examples of SCFA. Some scientists estimate that up to 10 percent of a person's daily energy needs can be met by using the SCFA as fuel. Butyrate, in particular, has been shown to have anti-cancer effects in animals. In addition, a probiotic containing butyrate-producing bacteria also reduced cancer formation in an animal model.
Another way of increasing butyrate production by intestinal bacteria is to eat prebiotics similar to the high-galactose type found in breast milk. Inulin, for example, is a type of high-fructose, nondigestible fiber that is present in wheat and onions. Many studies in both humans and animals have demonstrated the bifidobacteria-promoting benefits of inulin and other high-fructose prebiotics.
Are probiotics and prebiotics available? Yogurts fortified with probiotics (lactobacillus bacteria) are locally available. Probiotics in capsule and powder form also are available in local health-food and nutritional supplement stores.
Each month, scientists at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center write a column about their work and how their work affects people's lives on a daily basis. This month's column is written by Wesley Canfield, research medical officer, who received his medical degree from the State University of New York Health Sciences Center at Upstate.