Author: Msnbc News Services
Publication: MSNBC
Date: May 2, 2002
URL: http://www.msnbc.com/news/746707.asp?0si=-
Ancient remedy could lead to alternative
to today's drugs
A tree resin used for 2,000 years
as an Indian folk remedy for a variety of ailments works to lower cholesterol
in lab animals, and in a new way that might lead to the development of
improved drugs for people, U.S. researchers report.
THE TREE is known in India as guggul,
or the myrrh shrub. It's been used there since at least 600 BC to battle
obesity and arthritis, among other ailments.
David D. Moore, a molecular biologist
at the Baylor School of Medicine in Houston, found the guggul extract lives
up to its reputation.
In studies at his lab, Moore and
Nancy L. Urizar showed the sap contains a compound, called guggulsterone,
which blocks the action of a cell receptor, called FXR, which helps regulate
a body's cholesterol level, according to their report in the journal Science.
Other researchers at the University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas then tested the compound
in two types of mice - one with a normal FXR receptor and one without FXR.
They found that cholesterol levels
dropped in the livers of mice that had the FXR receptor, but not in the
others, thus proving that guggulsterone worked by affecting the FXR receptor.
FXR helps regulate cholesterol by
affecting levels of bile acids, which are produced from cholesterol and
released by the liver.
"Bile acids are the only way that
cholesterol has to get out of the body," Moore said. "We knew that FXR
was a key regulator of cholesterol metabolism."
"Our results suggest that other
compounds that could affect FXR could also control cholesterol," said Moore.
"This mechanism is completely different from the action of statin drugs,"
which are taken by millions of Americans to control cholesterol.
Statin drugs work by blocking an
enzyme that helps to make cholesterol in the liver.
CHOLESTEROL CONTROL
Dr. Mitchell A. Lazar, an endocrinologist
at the University of Pennsylvania, said the study is important because
it suggests a new drug pathway for controlling cholesterol.
"We need to have multiple ways to
lower lipids (cholesterol)," said Lazar.
He said the work also advances the
notion that some traditional medicinal compounds may have important uses
in modern medicine and emphasizes that the value of such compounds needs
to be researched.
Exactly how guggulsterone affects
the FXR receptor is unknown, Moore said.
"FXR regulates a number of genes
and we are not sure which are the primary targets for lipid (cholesterol)
control," said Moore, "but we have shown that this is a new mechanism
for controlling cholesterol."
He said finding a new way to reduce
cholesterol could be very important for patients who cannot tolerate the
side effects that some people experience with statins.
ADDITIONAL STUDIES NEEDED
Guggulsterone is commonly available
in health food stores, but Moore said he could not recommend people take
it for cholesterol control because there is some evidence the compound
affects the action of other drugs. More studies are needed to investigate
this issue, Moore said.
The guggul tree, known technically
as Commiphora mukul, grows in dry areas of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
For thousands of years, folk healers have tapped the trees to make medicines.
About 40 years ago, an Indian researcher
found that the guggul compound also was effective in combating heart disease,
a condition linked to cholesterol. Later studies in India showed that guggulsterone
lowered cholesterol, and Indian health authorities approved the sale of
the resin for treatment of heart disease.
Moore said more than 300 tons of
the resin is used annually for medical purposes in India.
(The Associated Press and Reuters
contributed to this report.)
