Research Signpost 37/661 (2), Fort P.O. Trivandrum-695 023 Kerala, India
Ethnomedicine: A Source of Complementary Therapeutics, 2010: 1-28 ISBN: 978-81-308-0390-6 Editor: Debprasad Chattopadhyay
1. Diseases that need new drugs: Need of the hour 1
Debprasad Chattopadhyay1, Paromita Bag1 and Sujit K Bhattacharya2
ICMR Virus Unit, ID & BG Hospital, GB-4, First Floor, 57 Dr Suresh C Banerjee Road, Beliaghata Kolkata; 2Additional Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, Ansari Nagar New Delhi 110029, India
Abstract. Studies on new drugs for malaria, trypanosomiasis, filariasis, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, leshmaniasis and amoebiasis came almost to a standstill; while there is no suitable drug to stop the emerging, re-emerging and the drug-resistant pathogens. On the other hand, the clinical efficacy of many ethnomedicines or compounds of natural origin was not yet evaluated and the composition of many traditional preparations was only crudely analysed. Pharmaceutical scientists are experiencing difficulty in identifying new lead structures in the finite world of chemical diversity as most synthetic drugs have unacceptable side effects. While many ethnomedicinal molecules like artemisinin, baccosides, curcumine, picrosides, piperidines, phyllanthins, psoralens, quinghaosu, rauwolfia alkaloids, steroidal lactones and glycosides, ursolic acid, withanolides showed impressive successes. The need of the hour is to develop new effective drugs against protozoal (malaria, trypanosomiasis, filariasis, schistosomiasis, leshmaniasis and amoebiasis), emerging and re-emerging viral and bacterial diseases, drug resistant microbes, chronic and difficult-to-treat diseases (like cancers, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, rheumatism etc), and prion diseases. This review will highlight the pros and corn of those diseases that need the new drugs and the recent research on the line. Correspondence/Reprint request: Dr. Debprasad Chattopadhyay, ICMR Virus Unit, ID & BG Hospital, GB-4 First Floor, 57 Dr Suresh C Banerjee Road, Beliaghata, Kolkata. E-mail: debprasadc@yahoo.co.in