PHARMACEUTICALS FROM ZIMBABWEAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

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The long term objectives of this project are the discovery of new anti-infective and anti-tumor agents using traditional Zimbabwean ethnopharmacology as a guide. This project will involve the collection of plant materials which already have a history of applications in the traditional medicine of the Ndebele people from Matabeleland, Zimbabwe. We will concentrate on plants which show promise for anti-infective activity (i.e., those used traditionally for the treatment of wounds, skin diseases, venereal diseases, infections, etc.) and for anti-tumor activity, but which have not been examined phytochemically. Plant materials will be extracted and the crude extracts screened for biological activity (antimicrobal, including anti-herpes activity, and cytotoxic activity). Extracts which show promising bioactivity will be subjected to activity-directed chromatographic separation in order to isolate and purify the active components. The active constituents will be identified using spectroscopic and crystallographic techniques. This research provides an excellent opportunity to identify novel phytochemical agents which could serve to combat emerging infectious diseases, opportunistic or drug resistant microorganisms and therapeutic agents for cancer. An especially attractive feature of this project is the inter-disciplinary and inter-institutional character of the research. The proposed research involves an unprecedented research collaboration among investigators from all three institutions of higher education in Huntsville, Alabama: the historically black/private Oakwood College, historically black Alabama A and M University, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The collaboration provides opportunities for interaction among faculty members and student researchers, and allows greater access to different facilities from the three participating campuses, all of which lie within six miles of each other. In addition, the collaboration with the University of Zimbabwe and the National Herbarium and Botanic Garden of Zimbabwe brings unique access to the ethnobotanical and cultural traditions of that part of Africa. This research project provides excellent hands-on experiences for undergraduate students from three different institutions which already have a tradition in quality undergraduate science education.