a Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, UCL School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom
b Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1-5/10, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
c Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Via Ospedale 72, 09124 Cagliari, Italy
b Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, ETH Zürich, Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 1-5/10, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
c Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cagliari, Via Ospedale 72, 09124 Cagliari, Italy
Abstract
Mexico's extraordinarily rich cultural and floristic diversity has fascinated explorers and researchers ever since the "New World" was discovered for and by Europeans. For many decades, natural product research has been a very active field of research in Mexico, and there also are some ongoing ethnopharmacological research efforts. This review provides an overview and critical appraisal on some key developments in these fields and examples ofmedicinal plants used by indigenous communities that have become of great local importance in Mexican popular medicine. In this review, the focus is on plants with effects on the CNS, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, inflammatory processes, and gastrointestinal disorders. While some of the major food plants consumed worldwide originate from southern North America, only very few medicinal plants have become of major global importance. Opuntia species are now used increasingly to manage diabetes and metabolic syndrome and represent an example of a novel medicinal product/supplement. Undoubtedly, narcotic and mind-altering drugs both have received the widest scientific interest and have attracted considerable popular attention. The history of use of the indigenous Mexican Materia Medica in the context of research on local and popular resources specifically with regard to the diverse challenges in the context of studying the world's biodiversity and the development of comparative and semiquantitative ethnobotanical research methods is discussed herein. Natural product and ethnopharmacological research in Mexico seems to have been influenced by the political and societal developments originating from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and subsequent conventions, which have not yet had the desired effect of giving value to these local resources, as they might deserve. Their equitable and sustainable implementation remains a challenge. Natural product research and ethnopharmacology will play a key role in developing an adequate evidence base for such products derived from local and traditional knowledge in Mexico. © 2014 The American Chemical Society and American Society of Pharmacognosy.
Indexed keywords
EMTREE drug terms: narcotic agent; natural product
EMTREE medical terms: Agastache; Agastache mexicana; biodiversity; botany; cacao; Cecropia; cecropia obtusifolia; central nervous system; comparative study; consensus; diabetes mellitus; ethnopharmacology; food crop; Galphimia; galphimia glauca; gastrointestinal disease; history of medicine; human; inflammation; medical research; metabolic syndrome X; Mexico; nonhuman; North America; Opuntia; political system; quantitative analysis; review; Salvia divinorum; society
MeSH: Animals; Biological Products; Eagles; Ethnopharmacology; Mexico; Molecular Structure; Opuntia; Plants,Medicinal; Snakes
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
Medline is the source for the MeSH terms of this document.
ISSN: 01633864 CODEN: JNPRDSource Type: Journal Original language: English
Publisher: American Chemical Society
Heinrich, M.; Centre for Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy, UCL School of Pharmacy, University of London, 29-39 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AX, United Kingdom; email:m.heinrich@ucl.ac.uk
© Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
© Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.