title: Ethnobotanical approach versus random approach in the search for new bioactive compounds: support of a hypothesis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Whether natural product drug discovery programs should rely on wild plants collected "randomly" from the natural environment, or whether they should also include plants collected on the basis of use in traditional medicine remains an open question.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study analyzes whether plants with ethnomedical uses from Vietnam and Laos have a higher hit rate in bioassay testing than plants collected from a national park in Vietnam with the goal of maximizing taxonomic diversity ("random" collection).
  
  
  METHODS
  All plants were extracted and subjected to bioassay in the same laboratories. Results of assays of plant collections and plant parts (samples) were scored as active or inactive based on whether any extracts had a positive result in a bioassay. Contingency tables were analyzed using χ(2) statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Random collections had a higher hit rate than ethnomedical collections, but for samples, ethnomedical plants were more likely to be active. Ethnomedical collections and samples had higher hit rates for tuberculosis, while samples, but not collections, had a higher hit rate for malaria. Little evidence was found to support an advantage for ethnomedical plants in HIV, chemoprevention and cancer bioassays. Plants whose ethnomedical uses directly correlated to a bioassay did not have a significantly higher hit rate than random plants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plants with ethnomedical uses generally had a higher rate of activity in some drug discovery bioassays, but the assays did not directly confirm specific uses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ethnomedical uses may contribute to a higher rate of activity in drug discovery screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gyllenhaal
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kadushin
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Southavong
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sydara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouamanivong
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xaiveu
authors.forename: L T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Xuan
authors.forename: N T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Hiep
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Loc
authors.forename: L X
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Dac
authors.forename: T Q
authors.initials: TQ
authors.lastname: Bich
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Cuong
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ly
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Franzblau
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Elkington
authors.forename: H T
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Waller
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tamez
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pezzuto
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Soejarto
mesh_terms: D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000379:methods*; D019448:Ethnobotany / Q000379:methods*; D020834:Ethnopharmacology / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007812:Laos; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D014744:Vietnam
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts