Center for Research on Botanical Dietary Supplements

描述（由申请人提供）：大约7%的美国人报告使用膳食植物补充剂（Ervin，Wright和Reed-Gillette，2004）。这些补充剂不仅被用作假定的预防药物，而且还用于治疗抑郁症和病毒感染等多种疾病。尽管这些补充剂的广泛使用，但了解这些植物提取物中存在的化合物的生物学特性的科学研究是有限的，许多补充剂的功效尚不清楚。爱荷华州植物补充剂研究中心一直致力于研究紫锥花和金丝桃（圣约翰草）这两种最广泛使用的植物提取物的炎症、免疫和抗病毒特性。本次更新的项目是抗病毒研究的延伸和扩展。在我们的第一轮融资中，我们确定了一些针对病原体人类免疫缺陷病毒（HIV-1）的抗病毒活性。在目标1中，我们建议继续鉴定紫锥菊和金丝桃属植物的抗HIV活性，并探索最近的观察结果，即夏枯草属植物的提取物也含有抗病毒活性。使用生物测定驱动的方法，将鉴定负责抗HIV活性的成分。一旦这些成分被确定和验证，将调查的成分的作用机制。在目标2中，将使用重要的人类呼吸道病毒和持久性病毒探索提取物抗病毒活性的广度。最后，在目标3中，将对两组重要的植物多酚类化合物原花青素和咖啡酸衍生物进行相关结构研究，以了解它们的抗氧化活性与其抗病毒活性之间的关系。这些抗氧化化合物已被选择用于研究，因为它们是紫锥菊、金丝桃和夏枯草中的主要抗氧化成分，并且我们实验室和其他实验室的最近研究表明它们具有重要的抗病毒活性。此外，将测定原花青素和咖啡酸衍生物增强和/或协同其它植物成分的抗病毒活性的能力。总之，这项研究将确定这些植物中是否确实存在重要的抗病毒活性。此外，我们的研究结果可以作为使用植物提取物和/或成分用于重要的人类病毒感染的新的低成本治疗的基础。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Approximately 7% of Americans report use of dietary botanical supplements (Ervin, Wright, and Reed-Gillette, 2004). These supplements are used not only as presumed preventatives, but also as treatments of such diverse diseases as depression and viral infections. Despite the extensive use of these supplements, scientific studies to understand the biological properties of the compounds present in these plant extracts are limited and efficacy of many of the supplements is unclear. The Iowa Botanical Supplement Research Center has focused on investigations of the inflammatory, immune and anti-viral properties of extracts from two of the most extensively used botanicals, Echinacea and Hypericum (St. John's Wort). This project of the current renewal is an extension and expansion of the anti-viral studies. During our initial round of funding, we identified a number of anti-viral activities against the pathogen human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1). In Aim 1, we propose to continue our identification of Echinacea and Hypericum anti-HIV activities and explore recent observations that extracts from Prunella species also contain anti-viral activities. Using a bioassay driven approach, constituents responsible for the anti-HIV activity will be identified. Once those constituents are identified and verified, the mechanism of action of the constituents will be investigated. In Aim 2, the breadth of the anti-viral activities in the extracts will be explored using important human respiratory viruses and persistent viruses. Finally, in Aim 3 correlative structural studies will be performed on two important groups of plant polyphenolic compounds, procyanidins and caffeic acid derivatives, to understand the relationship between their anti-oxidant activity and their anti-viral activity. These anti-oxidant compounds have been selected for study since they are principal anti-oxidant components in Echinacea, Hypericum and Prunella and recent studies in our labs and other indicate that they have important anti-viral activities. In addition, the ability of procyanidins and caffeic acid derivatives to enhance and/or synergize with the anti-viral activities of other plant constituents will be determined. In total, this study will determine if important anti-viral activities are indeed present within these botanicals. Additionally/our findings may serve as a basis for using botanical extracts and/or constituents for new, low-cost treatments for important human viral infections.