Purple Periwinkles Battle Inflammatory Diseases
From University of Rochester Medical Center
A widely and safely used plant extract acts as a novel anti-inflammatory agent that may one day be used for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, as well as other inflammatory conditions. There is an urgent need for new therapies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, such as COPD, otitis media (ear infection), and atherosclerosis (chronic inflammation in the walls of arteries), because the most effective and commonly used agents - steroids - often cause serious side effects, such as liver damage, which prevent long-term use.
In a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center were the first to find that vinpocetine, a natural product derived from the periwinkle plant, acts as a potent anti-inflammatory agent when tested in a mouse model of lung inflammation, as well as several other types of human cells. Results of the study show that vinpocetine greatly reduces inflammation, and, unlike steroids, does not cause severe side effects.
In addition to Li, Yan and Berk, Kye-Im Jeon, Ph.D., Xiangbin Xu, Ph.D., Jae Hyang Lim, Ph.D., DVM, Hirofumi Jono, Ph.D., and Jun-ichi Abe, M.D., Ph.D., from the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center participated in the study. Toru Aizawa, M.D., a former post-doctoral associate at the Aab Cardiovascular Research Institute, and Dong-Seok Kwon, Ph.D., a collaborator in Korea, also contributed to this study.
This does give use something to think about, but I would not take anything with my Doctor saying it was good.
