JUNIPER; ROBBINS; JOEL
The Carnivorous Plants. Part IV: Phytochemical Aspects
The Carnivorous Plants; 1989 Academic Press, ISBN 0-12-392170-8
NEPENTHES: Linnaeus gave the plant it's present name in 1753, in allusion to the story in Homer's Odyssey where Helen mixed wine with the drug 'Nepenthe' (Greek. literally 'No Mind') so that by drinking it man might be freed from care and grief. The shape of the pitchers in some species resembles the Greek rhincton or drinking horn. [Genera & distribution of pitcher plants] Heliamphora: British Guiana, Venezuela, Brazil. Darlingtonia: Northern California, Southern Oregon. Sarracenia: North America. Cephalotus: Western Australia. Nepenthes: Madagascar, Borneo, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Queensland Australia, Malaysia. AMINES: Histamine has been detected in the leaf tissues of a number of genera (Werle 1955). In both Nepenthes and Drosera the level appears to be higher in those parts of the leaf associated with the traps, though the level is variable. In these cases, as well as in Sarracenia and Pinguicula, the concentration is in the range 2-13 ug/g fresh weight. Acetylcholine-like compounds were also detected in Nepenthes (Morrisey 1963)... ALKALOIDS: Alkaloids, while not unknown, are relatively uncommon amongst the carnivorous plants. In view of their requirements for nitrogen in the molecules it is perhaps not suprising that these plants, living in nitrogen-limited environments, use other types of compounds as protective agents. Porcher (1849) was unable to detect morphine, nicotine or quinine in either Sarracenia flava or S. minor although Shepard (in Porcher 1849) reported a new alkaloid, possibly related to chinchonine. Sarracenia purpurea plants yielded veratrine (Hetet 1879), which possibly was Sheperd's alkaloid. Bjorklund (1864) isolated coniine from roots of S. purpurea but not leaves, though Lambert(1902) subsequently identified coniine as a volatile base produced by fresh leaves of this species. Romeo et al. (1977) could not, however isolate any alkaloid from all 10 species of Sarracenia but Mody et al. (1976) using large amounts of S. flava leaves (4.5 kg), showed that the unknown (1.9% total oil) C8H17N extracted by Miles et al.(1975) is again coniine. The other unknown C5H11NO (0.5%) may also be an alkaloid, but awaits identification. Recent work has not been able to confirm the presence of veratrine in Sarracenia. The variability in these reports may indicate seasonal and/or regional differences in alkaloid production, possibly related to carnivorous activity. Pinguicula vulgaris does not appear to contain any alkaloids (Christen 1961): nor does Nepenthes rafflesiana (Cannon et al. 1980).
LAI SM; LIM KW; CHENG HK
Margosa oil poisoning as a cause of toxic encephalopathy.
Singapore Med J. 1990 Oct; 31(5): 463-5
Margosa Oil is an extract of the seed of the Neem tree and is widely used as a traditional medicine by Indians in India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Used mainly for external applications, it is often administered orally to neonates and infants regularly in small amounts. Margosa Oil causes toxic encephalopathy particularly in infants and young children. The usual features are vomiting, drowsiness, tachypnea and recurrent generalised seizures. Leucocytosis and metabolic acidosis are significant laboratory findings. Management is aimed primarily towards the control of convulsions although supportive management is equally important. Prognosis is usually good but fatalities and neurological deficits have been reported. We report here two infants with Margosa Oil poisoning presenting with encephalopathy.
MAHYAR UW; BURLEY JS; GYLLENHAAL C; SOEJARTO DD
Medicinal plants of Seberida (Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia).
J Ethnopharmacol. 1991 Feb; 31(2): 217-37
Field enquiries on the plants used to treat diseases in villages of Seberida Municipality indicated that a large number of plant species (at least 100) are being used in therapy. Many of the uses, however, are magical in nature. Those in which a cause-effect relationship may be established (56) are presented in this paper. A review of the ethnomedical and experimental literature showed that medicinal plant uses in Seberida fall into three categories: those for which uses are corroborated by similar medicinal uses for the same plant or different species of the same genus in other cultures, those for which uses of the plant or species of the same genus are corroborated by evidence of relevant pharmacological activity in the experimental literature and those for which the medicinal uses are not corroborated. A discussion of these categories is presented. Taken as a whole, the medicinal uses of plants in Seberida are characterized by a remarkably high proportion of plants used to treat fevers and malaria and by a high proportion of species of which the leaves are used (externally or internally) for medicinal purposes. Comparison with other studies reported in the literature seems to indicate that a high frequency of the use of leaves in therapy may be a part of a larger cultural phenomenon among the tropical forest tribes of Southeast Asia and the southern Pacific Islands. Possible rationales for this type of use are offered.
OKUYAMA E; GAO LH; YAMAZAKI M
[Studies on pharmacologically active principles from Indonesian crude drugs. III. Toxic components from Brucea javanica (L.) Merr.]
Yakugaku Zasshi. 1990 Nov; 110(11): 834-8
During our screening of pharmacologically active principles from Indonesian medicinal plants by a hypothermic effect the methanol-extract of Brucea javanica (L.) Merr. has been found to exhibit a lethal toxicity to mice. The toxic components were isolated and identified with bruceoside A and B and yadanzioside F. Correction of 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance assignment was also mentioned.
SILVERMAN M; LYDECKER M; LEE PR
The drug swindlers.
Int J Health Serv. 1990; 20(4): 561-72
In a number of important developing nations--among them Indonesia, India, and Brazil--clinical pharmacologists and other drug experts are revealing mounting concern over the marketing of fraudulent drug products. These are shaped, colored, flavored, marked, and packaged to mimic the real product. They may contain the actual antibiotic or other drug indicated on the label, but so 'cut' that the product provides only a small fraction of the labeled amount, or they may contain only useless flour or starch. At best, they are worthless. At the worst, they can kill. In most instances, it is believed that these 'drugs' are produced and marketed by local or domestic fly-by-night groups and not by multinational pharmaceutical firms. Blame for these practices is placed on inadequate or unenforced laws, only trivial punishments, bribery and corruption, and the fact that generally 'nobody inspects the inspectors.'
Sprinzin, Noemie G.
The Blowgun in America, Indonesia, and Oceania.
23rd ICA, 699-704. (1928)
Stirling, M. W.
Indonesia and the Middle American Calendar.
AA 25:228-246. (1923)
TSENG WS; ASAI M; LIU JQ; WIBULSWASDI P; SURYANI LK; WEN JK; BRENNAN J; HEIBY E
Multi-cultural study of minor psychiatric disorders in Asia: symptom manifestations.
Int J Soc Psychiatry. 1990 Winter; 36(4): 252-64
Patients with minor psychiatric disorders, including neuroses, situational adjustment reaction or acute emotional reaction, were investigated using symptom questionnaires at five research sites in Asia including: Chiang-Mai, Thailand; Bali, Indonesia; Kao-Hsiung, Taiwan, China; Shanghai, China; and Tokyo, Japan. The results revealed that the symptom profiles differ significantly among groups of different settings indicating that sociocultural background does contribute to the manifestation of neurotic symptomatology. It was also found that numerous and various subtypes of somatic scales were identified through factor analysis of symptoms for these Asian populations. It demonstrates that the spectrum of neurotic symptoms has a different focus for subjects in different sociocultural settings.