title: Variability in content of the anti-AIDS drug candidate prostratin in Samoan populations of Homalanthus nutans.
abstract: Homalanthus nutans, used by Samoan healers to treat hepatitis, produces the antiviral compound 12-deoxyphorbol 13-acetate, prostratin (1). Prostratin is being developed as an adjuvant therapy to clear latent viral reservoirs, the major obstacle to eradication of HIV-AIDS within the human body. A validated reversed-phase HPLC method was developed to assay concentrations of 1 in H. nutans. A survey of four distinct populations on two different Samoan islands revealed significant variability in content. The stem tissue (range 0.2-52.6 microg/g 1), used by healers in indigenous therapies,gave a higher median concentration of prostratin (3.5 microg/g) than root or leaf tissues (2.9 and 2.5 microg/g, respectively).The high variability and skewness of these data indicate that cultivar selection for drug production will be important for this species. The reversed-phase HPLC assay will allow plants to be selected for agricultural development and genetic analysis by identifying those individuals above and below a 95% confidence interval for the median concentration.
authors.affiliation: Institute for EthnoMedicine, Box 3464, Jackson, Wyoming 83001, USA.
authors.forename: Holly E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Sandra A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Banack
authors.forename: Paul Alan
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cox
mesh_terms: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000592:standards / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019665:Euphorbiaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D010703:Phorbol Esters / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000592:standards / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D018947:Samoa
chemical_list: D019380:Anti-HIV Agents; D010703:Phorbol Esters; C070999:prostratin