Current phytotherapy - A perspective on the science and regulation of herbal medicine

Abstract

Phytotherapy is the use of plant materials to prevent and treat ill health or promote wellness. The practice dates to antiquity, yet remains current. It began in Mesopotamia, and subsequently spread to the rest of the Old World. The primacy of herbalism in medicine is evident from the large number of modern drugs that owe their origin to ethnobotanical remedies. This review traces the origins, the science and breakthroughs, and the effort of the World Health Organization to regulate herbal medicine. It notes three instruments as decisive in that effort: the Alma-ata Declaration of 1978; the manual on quality control of medicinal plant materials of 1998; and the general guidelines for methodologies on research and evaluation of Traditional Medicine of 2000. This review notes that while plants synthesize a large variety of secondary metabolites for various ecophysiological causes, most of such metabolites originate from a relatively few biosynthetic pathways. The pathways include those for alkaloids; terpenes/ terpenoid/ steroids; shikimic acid/ aromatics; and polyketides. These secondary metabolites, better called phytochemicals, affect man in ways that require that their production, quality, distribution and use be regulated. The review comments on the impact of World Health Organization on the regulation of herbal medicine.   Key words: Phytotherapy, world health organization (WHO), traditional medicine, Alma-Ata declaration, ecophysiological causes, biosynthetic pathway,phytochemical, quality control, regulation.