| New NIH Center to Research Echinacea and St. John's Wort | |
A $6 million, five-year grant from NIH's National Institute for Environmental
Health Sciences and Office of Dietary Supplements links Iowa State and
University of Iowa scientists in multidisciplinary research on Echinacea and St.
John's wort (Hypericum).
Echinacea is an herb used to treat infection and inflammation and to help wounds
heal. St. John's wort has long been used for ailments ranging from headache to
depression. Currently, there is much interest in the anti-viral properties of
St. John's wort.
Echinacea and St. John's wort were selected for study because they are popular
with consumers and there is substantial evidence of their potential health
benefits. Both are grown in Iowa.
"More and more people use botanical supplements, a trend that reflects awareness
of the potential health benefits of plants. Yet, we know very little about the
activity of these supplements -- the nature of their active components and the
factors in the plants that interact to optimize a health benefit or cause
toxicity," said Diane Birt, who will direct the new center. Birt is professor
and chair of Iowa State's food science and human nutrition department and
director of the Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition.
The Center for Research on Dietary Botanical Supplements will include research
by plant scientists, epidemiologists, chemists, molecular biologists,
nutritionists and statisticians. More than 20 scientists will conduct studies to
uncover the scientific workings of Echinacea and St. John's wort.
Researchers at the center will identify the bioactive constituents in the two
plants. Bioactive constituents are the chemical components that cause an effect
on humans or other living organisms. State-of-the-art instrumentation at Iowa
State's Metabolomics Research Laboratory will enable researchers to identify
these constituents.
The researchers will pinpoint genetic, growth, environmental and harvest
conditions that influence the quantity and quality of the bioactive ingredients
in Echinacea and St. John's wort. By identifying the chemicals responsible for
specific health and medicinal effects, it will be possible to standardize and
label supplements based on their actual chemical content, Birt said.
The center's research on the herbs' growth conditions and the developmental and
genetic factors that influence bioactivity will allow producers to grow
appropriate varieties under conditions that promote bioactivity. In addition,
Birt said, a better understanding of the relationship between plant genetics and
bioactivity could point to related herbs that may have useful medicinal and
nutritive bioactivities.
"Supplement manufacturers can use our findings to develop the best procedures
for herb processing, storage and product delivery," Birt said.
Medical researchers at the University of Iowa will conduct epidemiological
studies to determine the characteristics of human populations most likely to
have either clinical improvements or adverse effects from using botanicals as
dietary supplements. These studies will improve the understanding of potential
risks and benefits and provide critical, science-based information for health
practitioners and consumers.
In addition to the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, researchers at
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, will be involved in the center.
Iowa State is home to the U. S. Department of Agriculture's North Central
Regional Plant Introduction Station, which maintains the nation's germplasm
repository for Echinacea, conserving all known species in the genus.
In 1999, Congress appropriated funds for the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
to develop a botanical research center initiative. The new center at Iowa State
is the sixth national botanical research center. The others are at the
University of Arizona, Tucson; the University of California, Los Angeles; the
University of Illinois, Chicago; the University of Missouri, Columbia; and
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.
The Center for Research on Dietary Botanical Supplements at ISU will be
administered through the Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition, which
is a center of Iowa State's Plant Sciences Institute, College of Agriculture and
College of Family and Consumer Sciences.
Fact sheet
Echinacea
* Species are popularly known as echinacea, purple coneflower or Kansas
snakeroot
* Perennial herbs
* Native to eastern half of North America
* There are nine species; three are commonly used for medicinal purposes,
especially for infection, inflammation and to heal wounds
* Widely used as medicine by Native Americans
* Both oral and topical preparations are used
St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)
* Flowering perennial
* Grows wild in Europe and as an escaped weed in North America
* There are more than 370 species in nature
* Folk medicine with a long history of use to treat a wide range of ailments,
including bed wetting, headache, rheumatism and depression
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