Editorial [Hot Topic: Plants as Sources of Therapeutic Proteins (Executive Editor: Schuyler S. Korban)]

摘要

Plants have long been important sources of naturally-derived compounds that have contributed to human health andrnwell-being. These natural products have contributed to the development of new drugs for treatment of myriad ofrnailments and serious human diseases. Some of the herbal extracts and phytomedicines are used primarily inrndeveloping countries and in Europe, and they are gaining more acceptance by the general public in the United Statesrnas well. Among the recent examples of plant-purified chemical compounds are quinine from Cinchona for therntreatment of malaria, reserpine from Rauvolfia serpentina for the treatment of hypertension, and more recently taxolrnfrom Taxus brevifolia species for the treatment of ovarian cancer. These compounds followed the same method ofrndevelopment and evaluation as other pharmaceutical drugs. There are now increased efforts to evaluate and screenrnthousands of plant species for identifying those with antibacterial activities. The review by Dr. Mahady [1] willrnfocus on antibacterial activities of those plant species for which there are in vitro, in vivo, clinical data, andrnplausible mechanisms of action.