UIC Botanical Center - Focus on Safety and Efficacy of Botanicals
The UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements (UIC Botanical Center) evaluates the safety and efficacy of botanicals and especially those with potential benefits for women’s health, focusing on plants that are commonly available as botanical dietary supplements, which are reported to alleviate the symptoms of menopause and premenstrual syndrome. Women have experimented with herbal remedies for gynecological complaints for centuries, but until recently few systematic investigations have been carried out in the United States. The UIC Botanical Center’s studies are addressing the safety of botanicals, and their efficacy in reducing the frequency and intensity of hot flashes and other somatic symptoms in menopausal women. Additionally, the Center tests these botanicals to determine their effect on estrogen metabolism as well as their impact on estrogen carcinogenesis.
UIC/NIH Botanical Center – Botanicals Under Investigation
Center botanicals were chosen based on a review of the literature using various databases including NAPRALERT® which includes ethnobotanical and traditional use references.
These botanicals were identified as having both historical and current use applications or potential application to ameliorate menopausal symptoms. They include the following:
Botanical Common Name |
|
Angelica |
Viburnum |
Black Cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa / Actea racemosa) |
Kwao Kura |
Vitex / Chaste tree Berry |
Wild Yam |
Valerian |
Unicorn Root |
Red Clover |
(Angelica dahurica) |
Hops |
Viburnum |
Jamaican Dogwood (Cornus officinalis) |
Licorice |
UIC/NIH Botanical Center – Hops and Licorice
Examples of two familiar botanicals under current investigation are hops (Humulus lupulus) and licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) which are shown below.
Hops (above) is well known for its use in the beer-making process. It adds color and flavor and acts as a preservative. It has also been used traditionally as a sleep and anxiolytic aid. The UIC Botanical Center is studying its application to vasomotor symptoms associated with menopause and testing hops for its chemopreventive and antioxidant properties.
Licorice (above) is familiar to everyone as the candy or sweetener derived from the roots of this plant. However licorice has also had a traditional use as a demulcent for coating / moisturizing tissue. It has been used as a natural product for healing gastric ulcers. Current Center research focuses on the phyto-estrogenic properties of licorice as well as licorice’s antioxidant and chemo -preventive properties.
Recent News & Publications
FARNSWORTH LECTURESHIP
The newly established Norman R Farnsworth Lectureship will hold its inaugural lecture March 22. We are honored to have our first Guest Speaker, Dr. Paul Coates, Director of the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. As the first director of one of the first NIH- sponsored Research Botanical Centers, Norman Farnsworth worked with Paul Coates and others at ODS and NCCAM (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine) to bring scientifically based research protocols to the study of botanical supplements taken by women who aim to improve their health and wellbeing. Norman Farnsworth was a world renowned Pharmacognosist, and pioneer in the field that researches the medicinal properties of botanicals and other natural products. To learn more contact Deb Fox dfox4@uic.edu. Click on Norman R Farnsworth on the navigation panel to learn more about the career of this esteemed researcher.
ALUMNI NEWS
UIC graduate Daniel Fabricant, Director, Division of Dietary Supplement Programs, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to receive the 2013 Sister Margaret Wright Award during the College's Research Day on February 22. The Sister Margaret Wright Award recognizes an alumnus with a doctoral degree who has a distinguished reputation in the area of service or research. To learn more contact Deb Fox dfox4@uic.edu.
INVESTIGATOR NEWS
Jose Napolitano, PhD (Core B) is the recipient of a USP Fellowship entitled, "New Generation of 1H NMR Fingerprints for the Rapid Analysis of Pharmacopeial Reference Standards." His studies will explore the application of NMR and computational methods to identify and quantify small molecules in complex mixtures such as food ingredients, dietary supplements and botanicals.
IN PRESS
Nikolic D, Godecke T, Chen S-N, White j, Lankin DC, Pauli GF, van Breemen RB. Mass spectrometric dereplication of nitrogen-containing constituents of black cohosh. (Cimicifuga racemosa L.) Fitoterapia (2012) in press.
Biological characterization of non-steroidal progestins from botanicals used for women's health. M.F. Toh, J. Sohn, S.N. Chen, P. Yau, J.L. Bolton, J.E. Burdette. Steroids (In Press).
Nikolic, D. and van Breemen, R.B. Analytical methods for quantation of prenylated flavnoids from hops. Current. Chem. (In press).
Qiu F. Friesen JB, McAlpine JB, Pauli GF. NMR-based Design of Countercurrent Separation of IGinkgo biloba Terpene Lactones.
Yuan, Y., Qiu, X., Nikolic, D., Dahl, J.H., and van Breemen, R.B. Method development and validation for UHPLC-MS-MS determination of hop prenyflavonoids in human serum. The journal of AoAC International. In press.
CENTER PUBLICATIONS:
The UIC Botanical Center's peer-reviewed articles report on our research and scholarly activity.
DOI Links: DOI links and/or links to their online abstracts and full-text versions are provided. Note: Access to most journal articles and full DOI links require journal subscription and/or are subject to user authorization.
List of Center Publications [with DOI links; just click the journal names]
List of Center Publications - PDF Format