NCCAM and ODS Co-Fund Five Botanical Research Centers
Revised April 25, 2005
(Austin, TX). The National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) announced on April 7 that it has officially
delivered notice of new joint funding to five university-based dietary
supplement research centers from NCCAM and the Office of Dietary Supplements
(ODS), both agencies of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Botanical research centers were created previously
to focus on basic research and clinical studies of botanical preparations. The
focus of the new funding will be directed toward determining the mechanisms of
action of these preparations and their active phytochemical constituents. According
to a news release issued by NCCAM, “Research conducted by these centers will
advance the scientific base of knowledge about the safety, effectiveness, and
mechanisms of action of botanicals.”
Although much of the research funded by NCCAM and ODS in the
past five years has focused on clinical trials on botanicals and phytomedicinal
preparations, the new focus for research will be based primarily on mechanisms
of action and constituent properties. Consistent with this new focus, few clinical
trials will likely be conducted in the new five-year funding cycle, except
where some trials are already ongoing, e.g., Phase II clinical trials on black
cohosh and red clover currently being conducted at the University of Illinois
at Chicago (UIC).
“The change in direction of the research activities reflects
NIH’s increased interest in determining the actual molecular-mechanistic basis
for how herbal products operate in humans,” said Mark Blumenthal, Founder and
Executive Director of the nonprofit American Botanical Council (ABC) in Austin,
Texas. “This type of information is important in documenting the way herbs work
and is certainly needed and most welcome. It is also heartening to know that
in the future, NCCAM and ODS will continue to fund additional human clinical
trials of appropriate design to test the safety and efficacy of many popular
herbs in the U.S. market.”
The five centers that were notified that the funding
was activated on April 5, 2005 are: (1) Botanical Center for Age-Related Diseases
at Purdue University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Rutgers
University; (2) Botanical Dietary Supplements for Women's Health Center at the
University of Illinois at Chicago, IL (UIC); (3) Botanicals and Metabolic
Syndrome at Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State
University System, and Center of Agriculture and the Environment of Rutgers
University; (4) MSKCC Research Center for Botanical Immunomodulators at
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Weill Medical College of Cornell
University, The Rockefeller University, the Institute of Chinese Medicine, and
the Chinese University; and (5) Wake Forest and Harvard Center for Botanical
Lipids at Wake Forest University and Harvard University.
Two of the five centers-University of Illinois at Chicago
(UIC) and Purdue University-have been funded by previous NCCAM-ODS grants to
establish botanical research centers and have been conducting research in their
designated areas of interest for the past five years.
UIC will continue its work on botanicals for women’s
health, specifically for menopause and premenstrual syndrome. The primary herbs
being researched in this area are black cohosh (Actaea racemosa, syn. Cimicifuga racemosa), chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus), dong quai (Angelica sinensis) and red clover (Trifolium pratense), in addition to several new plants that will be
studied during the next five years.
The UIC Center Director is Professor Norman R. Farnsworth,
Research Professor of Pharmacognosy and Senior University Scholar. Among his
many internationally renowned duties, positions and consultancies, Prof.
Farnsworth is the co-editor of the medicinal plant research journal Phytomedicine and is a founding and current member of the Board of
Trustees of ABC.
The full NCCAM press release is available on the Internet (http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2005/040705.htm.)
and is pasted below, with the list of the five newly-funded centers and a brief
description of their areas of research focus.
About the American Botanical Council
Established in 1988, the American Botanical Council (ABC) is
the leading nonprofit, member-based organization educating consumers,
healthcare professionals, researchers, educators, industry, and the media on
the safe and effective use of herbs and medicinal plant products. ABC is
located on a 2.5 acre site in Austin, Texas where it publishes HerbalGram, a peer-reviewed quarterly journal. ABC is also the
publisher of The ABC Clinical Guide to Herbs, a continuing education module and reference book,
which contains extensive therapeutic monographs on the safety and efficacy of
29 popular herbs, including black cohosh and chaste tree. More information is
available at http://www.herbalgram.org/.
###
NIH News Release
National
Institutes of Health
U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services
National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM)
NIH Office of
Dietary Supplements
For immediate release:
Thursday, April 7, 2005
Contact:
NCCAM Press Office, 301-496-7790
Five dietary supplement research centers focusing on studies
of botanical products have been jointly funded by the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and the Office of Dietary
Supplements (ODS), both components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Research conducted by these centers will advance the scientific base of
knowledge about the safety, effectiveness, and mechanisms of action of
botanicals.
Botanical products are widely used by many Americans despite
a lack of evidence for most regarding whether they are safe or effective. The
2002 National Health Interview Survey conducted by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention indicated that 38.2 million American adults (about 19
percent) use nonvitamin, nonmineral natural products, primarily botanical
supplements.
"Given that millions of Americans are using natural
products, these research centers are critical to helping us determine whether
and by what mechanisms botanicals may serve as effective treatments or
preventive approaches," said Stephen E. Straus, M.D., NCCAM Director.
"The five centers we are funding will investigate the use of a variety of
widely consumed botanicals, from flaxseed to tarragon, for a range of diseases
and conditions that affect many Americans, such as asthma, atherosclerosis,
cataracts, and cancer."
Details on the recipients of these 5-year botanical research
center grants are listed below.
Botanical
Center for Age-Related Diseases
Principal Investigator: Connie Weaver, Ph.D.
Partner Institutions: Purdue University, West LaFayette, IN; University of
Alabama at Birmingham, AL; Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Researchers in this collaborative program will investigate
the health effects of polyphenols (a diverse group of chemical components
widely distributed in plants) from sources such as soy and kudzu. They will
study the ability of these agents to prevent and treat common conditions
associated with aging, including osteoporosis, cognitive decline, and
cataracts.
Botanical Dietary Supplements for Women's Health
Principal Investigator: Norman Farnsworth, Ph.D.
Institution: University of Illinois at Chicago, IL (UIC)
This center focuses on herbal supplements with implications
for benefit in women's health. For example, UIC scientists are conducting a
clinical trial to determine if black cohosh and red clover provide relief of menopausal
symptoms including hot flashes. In addition to conducting basic and clinical
research looking at standardization, metabolism, and toxicity of botanicals,
the center will support research training in pharmacognosy (the study of
natural products).
Botanicals and Metabolic Syndrome
Principal Investigator: William Cefalu, M.D.
Partner Institutions: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State
University System, Baton Rouge, LA; Center of Agriculture and the Environment
of Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ.
Researchers will study extracts of Russian tarragon,
Shilianhua (a Chinese herbal product), and grape seed and how they may
influence molecular and cellular processes associated with the metabolic
syndrome, which consists of obesity, insulin resistance, development of type 2
diabetes, and accelerated cardiovascular disease.
MSKCC
Research Center for Botanical Immunomodulators
Co-Principal Investigators: Barrie Cassileth, Ph.D., and Philip Livingston,
M.D.
Partner Institutions: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY;
Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY; The Rockefeller
University, New York, NY; the Institute of Chinese Medicine and the Chinese
University, Hong Kong, China
This center will investigate botanicals with reported
ability to modulate immune function--echinacea, astralgus, turmeric, maitake,
and a traditional Chinese formula--and their relevance for the treatment of
cancer and infectious disease.
Wake Forest
and Harvard Center for Botanical Lipids
Principal Investigator: Floyd Chilton, Ph.D.
Partner Institutions: Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC; Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA
This center will examine biological mechanisms and clinical
applications of polyunsaturated fatty acids derived from botanicals, such as
flaxseed, echium, and borage. The studies will focus on the anti-inflammatory
actions of botanical oils and their potential to prevent and treat inflammatory
diseases, such as atherosclerosis and asthma.
"In 1999, NIH developed a botanical research center
initiative with major research institutions across the nation," said Paul
Coates, Ph.D., Director of ODS. "These five centers will continue to
fulfill the goal of this initiative to foster interdisciplinary collaborative
research, in order to identify potential health benefits and to develop a
systematic evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of botanicals,
particularly those available as dietary supplements."
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (NCCAM) is dedicated to exploring complementary and alternative
medical (CAM) practices in the context of rigorous science, training CAM
researchers, and disseminating authoritative information to the public and
professionals. For additional information, call NCCAM's Clearinghouse toll free
at 1-888-644-6226, or visit the NCCAM Web site at nccam.nih.gov.
The mission of the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS)
is to strengthen knowledge and understanding of dietary supplements by
evaluating scientific information, stimulating and supporting research,
disseminating research results, and educating the public to foster an enhanced
quality of life and health for the U.S. population. For additional information
about ODS, visit ods.od.nih.gov.