Immunomodulatory Agents From Plants

The human immune system, despite having its own sophisticated defence mecha nisms, is inferior to bacteria and viruses with respect to adaptability. Furthermore, our immune system is increasingly exposed to detrimental effects, that is immuno suppressive environmental consequences, unhealthy living, and chronic illnesses. Excessive chemotherapy threatens our immune system even further. This situation demands compensatory prophylactic therapeutic regimes. One of these - specific immunostimulation - is more difficult to achieve than the immunosuppression cur rently used in transplantation surgery and the medical treatment of autoimmune dis eases. The earliest attempts to develop suitable medication for immunostimulation were based on traditional remedies which embodied the accumulated experience of several centuries. Medicinal plants are already being used prophylactically as stan dardized and efficacy-optimized preparations for the treatment of various recur rent infections, or in combination with chemotherapeutics in standard medical practice. In order to rationally apply immunostimulants of plant origin, however, it is necessary to search for the active principles of these substances and to produce them in a pure form. Because suitable screening methods have become available only recently, research in this field is in its very beginning. Further progress can be expected from systematic basic research on the mechanisms underlying immunomodulation. This also applies to verification of clinical efficacy, which is a prerequisite for the acceptance of medications with purported immunostimulatory properties.

This book describes the process of immunomodulation and the plants which possess immunomodulation properties to boost the immune system. The immunomodulation process is highly relevant to address emerging as well as existing diseases in humans. A better immune system triggers the cellular responses for neutralizing and combating the onset of disease conditions. Chapters in the book discuss plants that have profound effects on the health and well-being of humans. They discuss the natural phytochemicals that have immense diversity and uniqueness of molecules. Molecules belonging to phenylpropanoids, terpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, and tannins etc possess a variety of pharmacological activities. The chapters describe how bioactive exert effects even when taken as part of the diet, supplement, and or as traditional herbal medicine. This book provides up-to-date scientific knowledge about the activities and mechanisms and leads in the area of medicinal plants and phytochemicals with immunomodulation properties. This book is meant for students, academics, researchers, and industry professionals interested in pharmacology, immunology, and plant secondary metabolites.

Food security and the medicinal needs of billions of people around the world are pressing global issues, and the biodiversity and sustainable utilization of plants is of great significance in this context. Further, ethnobotanical studies are vital in the discovery of new drugs from indigenous medicinal plants, and plants with industrially important metabolites need to be cultivated to meet the growing market demand. In addition, the production of plant metabolites under in vitro conditions also has tremendous possibilities. The totipotency of plant cells plays a valuable role in the sustainable utilization of plant resources through cell, tissue and organ culture. At the same time, production can be enhanced using productive cell lines, treatment with elicitors, changing nutritional parameters and metabolic engineering. This book provides state-of-the-art information on biodiversity, conservation, ethnobotany, various aspects of In vitro secondary metabolite production, bioprospecting from various plant groups and drug discovery. It also discusses methods of extracting and characterizing drug leads from plant sources.​

This volume details techniques on the study of Isolation, characterization, and exploration of actinobacteria in industrial, food, agricultural, and environmental microbiology. Chapters cover a wide range of basic and advanced techniques associated with research on isolation, characterization and identification of actinobacteria in soil, sediment, estuarine, water, Saltpan, Mangroves, plants, lichens, sea weeds, sea grass, animals-crab, snail, shrimp. Authoritative and cutting-edge, Methods in Actinobacteriology aims to be a useful practical guide to researches to help further their study in this field.

New Look to Phytomedicine: Advancements in Herbal Products as Novel Drug Leads is a compilation of in-depth information on the phytopharmaceuticals used in modern medicine for the cure and management of difficult-to-treat and challenging diseases. Readers will find cutting-edge knowledge on the use of plant products with scientific validation, along with updates on advanced herbal medicine in pharmacokinetics and drug delivery. This authoritative book is a comprehensive collection of research based, scientific validations of bioactivities of plant products, such as anti-infective, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, immune-modulatory and metabolic disorders presented by experts from across the globe. Step-by-step information is presented on chemistry, bioactivity and the functional aspects of biologically active compounds. In addition, the pharmacognosy of plant products with mechanistic descriptions of their actions, including pathogenicity is updated with information on the use of nanotechnology and molecular tools in relation to herbal drug research. Compiles up-to-date information on the chemotherapeutics used in the treatment of infective and metabolic disorders Presents advancements in the discovery of new drugs from plants using molecular and nanotechnology tools Examines detailed information on the use of herbals agents in cancer, HIV and other ailments, including diabetes, malaria and neurological disorders

This timely and original handbook paves the way to success in plant-based drug development, systematically addressing the issues facing a pharmaceutical scientist who wants to turn a plant compound into a safe and effective drug. Plant pharmacologists from around the world demonstrate the potentials and pitfalls involved, with many of the studies and experiments reported here published for the first time. The result is a valuable source of information unavailable elsewhere.

Synthesis of Medicinal Agents from Plants highlights the importance of synthesizing medicinal agents from plants and outlines methods for performing it effectively. Beginning with an introduction to the significance of medicinal plants, the book goes on to provide a historical overview of drug synthesis before exploring how this can be used to successfully replicate and adapt the active agents from natural sources. Chapters then explore the medicinal properties of a number of important plants, before concluding with a discussion of the future of drugs from medicinal plants. Illustrated with real-world examples, it is a practical resource for researchers in this field. In an age of rapid environmental destruction, hundreds of medicinal plants are at risk of extinction from overexploitation and deforestation, limiting the natural resources available for active agent extraction, thereby threatening the discovery of future cures for diseases. Simultaneously, with the increasing population and advances in medical sciences, the demand for drugs is continuously increasing and cannot be met with just plants. The ability to synthetically replicate the active compounds from these plants is essential in creating an ecologically-aware, sustainable future for drug design Includes detailed coverage of therapeutic compound synthesis Uses multiple real-world examples to support content Lays out a sustainable template for the future of developing active agents from natural products