THE LACK OF QUALITY CONTROL AND SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

THE LACK OF QUALITY CONTROL AND SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION AND LITERATURE REVIEW INTRODUCTION

Albumin, globulin, total protein, body weight and glucose are blood tests that gives information about the state of an individual’s liver. Albumins are associated with functionality. These tests can be useful in the evaluation and management of patients with hepatic dysfunction. They can be used to detect the presence of liver disease, gauge the extent of known liver damage and follow the response to treatment.
Medicinal plants have been the main stay of traditional herbal medicine amongst rural dwellersworld-wide since antiquity to date. The therapeutic use of plants certainly goes back to the Sumerian and the Acadians civilization is about the third millennium BC. Hippocrates (ca. 460-377 BC), one of the ancient authors who described medicinal natural products of plants and animal origins, listed approximately 400 different plant species for medicinal purposes (Taylor et al., 2001).

Medicinal plants are plants which contain substance that could be used for therapeutic purposes or which are precursors for the synthesis of useful drugs (Abolaji et al., 2007). Medicinal plants, since time immemorial have been in virtually all cultures as a source of medicine. Over 5,000 plants are known to be used for medicinal purposes in Africa but only a few have been described for study (Taylor et al., 2001). Recently, concerns have been raised over the lack of quality control and scientific evidence for the efficacy and safety of medicinal plants. Medicinal plants typically contain several pharmacological active compounds that may act individually, additively or in synergy to improve health (Azaizeh et al., 2003).

1.1.LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1.1. ALBUMIN

The albumins (formed from Latin: albumen) (Haefliger et al., 1989) are a family of globular proteins, the most common of which is serum albumin. The albumin family consists of all proteins that are water-soluble, are moderately soluble in concentrated salt solutions, and experience heat denaturation. Albumins are commonly found in blood plasma, and are unique from other blood proteins in that they are not glycosylated.

Albumin is a protein made specifically by the liver, and can be measured cheaply and easily. It is the main constituent of total protein (the remaining from globulins). Albumin levels are decreased in chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis. It is also decreased in nephritic syndrome, where it is lost through the urine. The consequence of low albumin can be edema since the intravascular oncotic pressure becomes lower than the extra vascular space. Reference range 3.5 to 5.5g/dl.(Sugio et al., 1999).

FUNCTION

Serum albumin is the main protein of human blood plasma (Mayer et al., 1994). It binds water, cations (such as Ca2+, Na+ and K+), fatty acids, hormones, bilirubin, thyroxine (T4) and pharmaceuticals (including barbiturates) – its main function is to regulate the colloidal osmotic pressure of blood.

TYPES

Serum Albumin

Serum albumin is the most abundant blood plasma protein and is produced in the liver and forms a large proportion of all plasma protein. The human version is human serum albumin, and it normally constitutes about 50% of human plasma protein (Mayer et al., 1994).

Serum albumins are important in regulating blood volume by maintaining the oncotic pressure (also known as colloid osmotic pressure) of the blood compartment (Mayer et al., 1994).

They also serve as carriers for molecules of low water solubility this way isolating their hydrophobic nature, including lipid soluble hormones, bile salts, unconjugated bilirubin, free fatty acids (apoprotein), calcium, ions (transferrin), and some drugs like warfarin, phenobutazone, clofibrate & phenytoin. For this reason, it’s sometimes referred as a molecular “taxi”. Competition between drugs for albumin binding sites may cause drug interaction by increasing the free fraction of one of the drugs, thereby affecting potency (Gaull et al., 1984).

SPECIFIC TYPES INCLUDE:

Human Serum Albumin

Low albumin (hypoalbuminemia) may be caused by liver disease, nephrotic syndrome, burns, protein-losing enteropathy, malabsorption, malnutrition, late pregnancy, artefact, genetic variations and malignancy.

THE LACK OF QUALITY CONTROL AND SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF MEDICINAL PLANTS