Many of the drugs we use today were originally derived or synthesised from natural substances taken from plants. We synthesise aspirin and produce it in factories today, but its original source was from the bark of the willow tree.
The real question, however, is whether a given herbal product actually works. Does it provide any therapeutic benefit or is it at best a waste of time and money or at worst of harm to those who use it?
Science is being applied to answer these questions. One recent study on a plant-derived ointment for inflammatory skin disorders was completed by Mr Ian Horan, a doctoral student working at Athlone Institute of Technology.
Mr Horan presented his research last week at the fifth annual Science and Computing Research Colloquium, organised by the Association of Heads of Science in the State's institutes of technology.
It took place at Athlone IT and attracted about 140 delegates, mostly from the IT sector, according to one of the organisers, Dr Eileen Lane of Athlone IT.
Dr Lane is a post-doctoral researcher involved in a campus company, Bioserv Ltd, which carries out chemical and microbial toxicity testing. She explained what the colloquium was all about.
"The idea is to have a forum for research in the ITs, where they can present their research," she said. The IT sector originally had little involvement in research but this had changed over the years and now the institutes were deeply involved in research activity, she added. The colloquium provided a way for this message to get out from the institutes.
Mr Horan's presentation described his use of in vitro models to determine the efficacy of the herbal product, used for the treatment of psoriasis and eczema and manufactured in Ireland.
"Many of the drugs found within the British pharmacopoeia are based on structural analogues of natural substances," Mr Horan said. "The use of plant extracts as opposed to isolated components is known as phytotherapy or herbalism."
He studied both the toxicity and therapeutic effect of the agent, using two different skin cell lines. "The product acts in symptomatic pain relief for psoriasis and eczema," Mr Horan said, but he found the product had other therapeutic dimensions.
He established that the product had low toxicity, as shown when it was applied to living cells. "I did get cell death, but you get cell death with everything."
Psoriasis is a disease which causes "hyperproliferation" of a skin component, in turn causing the production of itchy scales.
Existing steroid-based products are shown to reduce this proliferation and Mr Horan compared the herbal product with the steroid preparation. He found the herbal product was about 25 per cent as effective in preventing this proliferation.
It had other benefits, however, which he studied using the two cell lines. It had an effect on prostaglandins, substances in the body which cause pain and inflammation in damaged tissues. The herbal product reduced prostaglandin release, which might be expected to reduce inflammation.
It also had an anti-bacterial action, he added. It contained tannins which could bind to proteins and block the formation of pus, actions which should facilitate wound healing.
"Based on these various tests in the therapeutic evaluation, one can conclude it is efficacious in psoriasis or inflammatory skin conditions," Mr Horan concluded.
