The findings suggest that these plants may lead to the development of new treatments.
A new study has scientists thinking that the self-medicating behavior of gorillas may provide clues for future drug discovery. By studying the plants eaten by wild gorillas, researchers in Gabon have discovered four tropical plants used by local healers with potential medicinal properties. The plants are rich in antioxidants and antibacterial substances, and laboratory experiments suggest that one of them may be able to fight superbugs.
The study, conducted by Leleché Evene Donailly Oyaba Indah of the Interdisciplinary Medical Research Center in Franceville, Gabon, and colleagues, was published in an open-access journal on September 11. Journal PLOS ONE.
According to release, To study the study, the researchers observed the behavior of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in Gabon's Moukalaba Doudou National Park and recorded the plants the gorillas ate, then interviewed 27 residents near the village of Dousara, including traditional healers and herbalists, about plants used in local traditional medicine.
The team identified four native plants that gorillas eat and that are also used in traditional medicine: the fromager tree (Ceiba pentandra), the giant yellow mulberry (Myrianthus arboreus), the African teak (Milicia excelsa) and the fig tree (Ficus). They tested bark samples from each plant for their antibacterial and antioxidant properties and investigated their chemical composition.
The researchers found that the bark of all four plants had antibacterial activity against at least one multidrug-resistant strain of E. coli. Fromager trees showed “significant activity” against all E. coli strains tested. All four plants contained compounds with medicinal properties, including phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids and proanthocyanidins. However, it is unclear whether gorillas eat these plants for medicinal purposes or for other reasons.
Biodiverse regions such as Central Africa harbor a vast amount of untapped plants with potential medicinal properties.
This study provides preliminary insights into plants with antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, and the four plants investigated in this study may be promising targets for further drug discovery research, especially for the treatment of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.
of The study authors added: “Alternative medicines and therapies offer real hope for solving many current and future public health problems, and animal pharmacology is one such new approach aimed at discovering new medicines.”
