Lecture 2 - Evolution and Natural History of Medicinal Plants Flashcards
Based on the Geologic Timeline, when did the Earth form?
4.6 billion years ago
___________________ plants appeared during the Silurian Period (443 million years ago)
Photosynthesizing
First branching plant was called ____________
Cooksonia
______________ appeared slightly earlier than Cooksonia
Terrestrial fungi
Fungi excrete _______________ and absorb externally digested nutrients
digestive enzymes
- Animals derive their nutrition by engulfing ______
- Plant derive their nutrition by ___________
food
photosynthesis
T or F: Terrestrial fungi contributed to soil formation and facilitated plant growth
T
During the Devonian Period, early plants used ____________ in their roots
symbiotic fungi
Fungi have a _______ body and a large network of underground _________
fruiting
hyphae
In 1843, geologists in Gaspé discovered a fungi that was _______ taller than all other plants at the time. _______________ dominated between 420-350 million years ago
8x
Prototaxites
Prototaxites were _________
giant fungi
T or F: No plants appreciate you, the main purpose of the plants are to reproduce and survive
T
______________ had hundreds of sharp teeth designed to eat conifers
Hydrosaurs
Terrestrial plants produce an arsenal of compounds to:
- deter plant-eating animals
- discourage the growth of other seedlings
- inhibit soil bacteria and fungi
T or F: Plants can repel, sicken, confuse, stunt, sterilize, or kill
T
Few aquatic plants produce compounds against ____________
herbivores
T or F: on land, plants had to survive desiccation in the air and exposure to UV waves from intense sunlight
T
Early plant strategies for:
- water loss:
- UV radiation:
- Flavonoid pigments:
- Anthocyanins:
- Tannins:
- Water loss: developed a layer of epidermal cells coated by a waxy cuticle layer
- UV radiation: water served as a filter for direct sunlight
- Flavonoid pigments: reflect UV wavelengths
- Anthocyanins: flavonoids that provide most of the blue, violet, and red pigments in plants
- Tannins: Astringent compounds that limit a plant’s palatability. Accumulates in the bark of woody species. Can bind to digestive enzymes and interfere with digestion. Can cause cancers in animals and people who are chronically exposed to tannins
Name some physical plant defesnes:
- bark
- waxy cuticles
- hard shells, thorns
- spines
- trichomes
Name some plant chemical defenses:
- alkaloids (noxious odors)
- opioids (lethargy)
- glycol cyanide (poison)
- cardiac glycosides (poison)
- lectins (binds to CHO)
- oxalates (binds minerals and causes damage to gut)
Name some plant timing defenses:
- Mast years in nut trees
- Jasmonates are hormones that attract parasitoid insects to fight attackers
- long-distance signaling to boost defense in other parts of the plant and neighbouring plants
How do you identify a flavonoid:
6-3-6 (benzene rings)
Nut meg is an _________________
hallucinogen
Wild Yam active agent (Diosgenin) followed by multiple chemical reactions, __________ is produced
progesterone
Their diverse, complex metabolic effects have been used as medicines since ancient times:
phytochemicals
T or F: phytochemicals, many evolved as natural deterrents and toxins
T
Some phytochemicals have:
- immediate deterrent effects
- some regulate life cycles and development to affect future generations of herbivores
- some interfere with brain activity and neural function
Vomiting is normally caused by __________
alkaloids
How did human know which plants were safe to eat?
- trial and error
- generational familiarity
- observing animals
- processing and transformation
Explain the Universal Edibility Test: (SCCTCS)
- Separate
- Contact
- Cook
- Taste
- Chew
- Swallow
________ is the only taste that is dangerous
Bitter
________ was used to repel snakes and discourage tapeworms
Garlic
Garlic Sheet:
- Scientific name:
- Family:
- Part used:
- Mode of administration:
- Bioactive compound:
- Compound class:
- Uses:
-Allium sativum
-Amaryllidaceae
-Bulb
Mined bulb for internal use
-Alliin degraded to Allicin
-Organosulfur/essential oil
-Antimicrobial, Antifungal, cardioprotective (lipid lowering and inhibition of platelet aggregation)
What enzyme is responsible for the transformation from alliin to allicin:
alliinase
What are the 2 oily mediums of allicin:
- vinyldithiins
- ajoenes
What is the aqueous medium of Allicin:
-allyl sulfides
Allicin mechanisms of actions as antioxidants:
-organosulfur compounds inhibit peroxidation of lipids and possess radical scavenging activities
Allicin mechanisms of actions as H2S donors:
- As precursors of hydrogen sulfide - a colourless, flammable, and toxic gas that smells like rotten eggs
- H2S is a gaseous signaling molecule (gasotransmitter)
- H2S: induces smooth muscle relaxation, dilates blood vessels, explains garlic’s cardioprotective effects
- can react with thiol groups and can inactivate essential enzymes; explains antimicrobial and antifungal activity
Origin of the vampire is the disease ___________, diseases caused by irregularities in the production of _______
porphyria
heme
People who suffer from Porphyria also have an intolerance to foods that have a high sulphur content such as _____
Garlic
God of healing (Ancient Greece) =
Asclepius
Medicines given by Hippocrates (Ancient Greece) were mostly ______ and _____ to restore balance of the 4 bodily humors
Purgatives
Emetics
What are the 4 bodily humors:
- yellow bile
- black bile
- blood
- phlegm
Strongly laxative in effect =
purgative
causing vomiting =
emetic
Dioscorides advocated the use of a decoction of __________ (Salix alba) for painful gout
white willow
_________ an alcoholic B-glucoside, is commonly found in the bark of willows and poplars. This eventually lead to the development of _________
- Salicin
- Aspirin (Acetylsalicylic acid) in 1899
White Willow - Sheet
- Scientific name:
- Family:
- Part used:
- Mode of administration:
- Bioactive compound:
- Compound class:
- Uses:
- Salix alba
- Salicaceae
- Bark
- Macerated in alcohol as a tincture
- Salicin metabolized to salicylic acid
- Alcoholic B-glucoside
- Anti-inflammatory
T or F: White willow extract may be used instead of aspirin if you have digestive issues when taking aspirin
T
Recent clinical trials indicate that a high-potency standardized extract has analgesic activity, but with fewer side effects than standard drug treatments. Pharmacokinetic studies have demonstrated that this activity cannot be due to salicin alone and other yet unidentified constituents and mechanisms also probably contribute to the observed clinical effects.
White willow (not a potent inhibitor of platelet aggregation like aspirin)
In Ancient Rome, _______________ was ingested by women to limit births
Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus Carota)
Abortifacient =
causing abortion
Contraceptive =
prevents pregnancy
tincture =
made by dissolving the plant in alcohol
emmenagogue =
stimulates or increases menstrual flow
Queen Anne's Lace - Sheet Scientific name: Family: Part used: Mode of administration: Bioactive compound: Compound class: Uses:
Daucus carota Apicaceae Seeds Chewed or in a tincture Carotol Sesquiterpene alcohol Abortifacient - interferes with progesterone, anti-fertility, emmenagogue
The seeds of Queen Anne’s Lace contain:
- steroids
- flavonoids
- alkaloids
- polyphenols
T or F: The seeds of Queen Anne’s Lace interfere in the estrus cycle by having a negative impact on the hypothalamus - pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis
T
Queen Anne’s lace has which effect on FSH:
-FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) is depleted, causing a depletion in estradiol
Doctrine of Signatures was popularized by ___________, if a plant resembled a particular body part, it’s physical form was regarded as a suggestion for its use
Paracelsus
Where did the Black Plague start and which bacterium caused it
- It started in Genova - Italy
- Yesinia pestis
In 1753, __________ developed his own system of binomial nomenclature
Carl Linnaeus
T or F: Linnaea borealis was used to treat childhood fevers and cramps with a decoction of the stems
T
Friedrich Wohler discovered _____
urea
Many plant compounds have not yet been successfully synthesized or are too expensive to synthesize :
- morphine
- cocaine
- ergotamine
- podophyllin
- digitalis
- atropine
- reserpine
