Other medicinal plants and botanical products from the first edition of the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia

Outras plantas medicinais e produtos botânicos da 1ª Edição da Farmacopéia Brasileira

DIVULGAÇÃO

Other medicinal plants and botanical products from the first edition of the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia

Outras plantas medicinais e produtos botânicos da 1ª Edição da Farmacopéia Brasileira

Maria G.L. Brandão^{I, II,*}; Naiara N. S. Zanetti^II; Gabriela R. R. Oliveira^II; Lorena O. Goulart^II; Roberto L. M. Monte-Mor^III

^IFaculdade de Farmácia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil

^IIMuseu de História Natural e Jardim Botânico, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Rua Gustavo da Silveira, 1035, 31080-010 Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil

^IIIFaculdade de Ciências Econômicas Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, 31270-901 Belo Horizonte-MG, Brazil

ABSTRACT

In a previous work, we described the list of medicinal plants and botanical products present in the four editions of the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia (FBRAS). The work also discussed the replacement of native Brazilian plants by imported products and synthetics over the last decades. In this paper, we present new data concerning medicinal plants and botanical products present in the first Edition of the FBRAS an in its two supplements.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, botanical products, Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia.

RESUMO

Em trabalho anterior foi descrita a relação das plantas medicinais e produtos botânicos presentes nas quatro edições da Farmacopéia Brasileira (FBRAS). O trabalho discutiu também sobre a substituição das plantas nativas do Brasil por outros produtos importados e sintéticos ao longo das últimas décadas. Neste artigo, são apresentados novos dados sobre plantas medicinais e produtos botânicos presentes na 1ª Edição da FBRAS e em seus dois suplementos.

Unitermos: Plantas medicinais, produtos botânicos, Farmacopéia Brasileira.

INTRODUCTION

In a previous study we presented a list of the medicinal plants and other botanical products described in the four Editions of the Brazilian Official Pharmacopoeia (FBRAS) (Brandão et al., 2006). The work indicated the monographs which describe data concerning intact or pulverized vegetal drugs, as well as the first products obtained from their extraction, as for example, tinctures, fluid extracts, oils, resins, essential oils and balsams That paper also analyses the transformations within the Pharmacopoeia, focusing on the presence of monographs for native medicinal plants.

In this study, new informations were extracted from the 1^st Edition of FBRAS (Silva, 1929) and were organized in order to simplify its use. The informations present in two supplements, which were published later, were also included. The objective of these studies is to orient researchers in verify the efficacy and safety of such products, which were already officialized by the Pharmacopoeia, especially those from native Brazilian plants.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The 1^st Edition of the Pharmacopoeia (Silva, 1929) and its two supplements were searched for new data about medicinal plants and botanical products. Data concerning pharmaceutical formulations as aromatic waters, cataplasms, cigarettes, preserves, elixirs, emulsions, powders, spirits, garglings, melitos (i.e. pharmaceutical preparations containing honey), pills, potions, ointments, soaps, solutes, juices, suppositories, wines and syrups were extracted (Table 1).

Table 2 shows the pharmaceutical formulas constituted by different plant products. Among those are balsams, cerates, elixirs, plasters, emulsions, adhesive plasters, powders, spirits, extracts, fluid extracts, liniments, oils, pills, potions, ointments, dyes, vinegars, wines and syrups. Formulas that contained chemical substances of mineral, animal or synthetic origin were not considered in the present study, except when used as vehicles.

Data about monographs for vegetal drugs (vd), tinctures (tn), fluids extracts (fe) and resins, not included in Brandão et al. (2006), were included in Table 1. Extracts associated to sapé grass (Imperata exaltata, Poaceae) were also included in Table 1, since they were used exclusively as vehicle.

The English names for each species and their Botanical Families were updated using data from the Missouri Botanical Garden website (www.mobot.org). For those species whose names were not found in the website, the original names described in the FBRAS were maintained.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The Brazilian Pharmacopoeia is the country’s official pharmaceutical code, and is responsible for establishing the quality requisites for medicaments. Until the beginning of the 20^th century, the Portuguese Pharmacopoeia was adopted in Brazil as the official code of medicaments. Considering the large number of products from the native Brazilian flora not listed in that Pharmacopoeia and which were used in the official medicine at that time, such publication was not appropriated for the country’s needs. The pharmacist Rodolfo A.D. Silva organized the 1^st Edition of the Pharmacopoeia, which was concluded in 1926 but only published in 1929 (Pereira, 2005; Pereira et al., 1989). It is unnecessary to emphasize the relevance of this work, both in the past as well as in the modern days, since it correlated medicinal plants and botanical products with historical use in traditional practice and the official medicine of that period. Nowadays, a Permanent Commission organizes the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia, appointed by National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). This group organize reference standards and national formulary, participate in the formulation and improvement of human resources related to quality control, and support research.

Since the publication of the first Edition of the FBRAS, many studies were developed in order to improve this publication. Some of them, for example, discuss better forms for data inclusion in the monographs (Barreto, 1941; Luz, 1944a, 1944b; Stellfeld, 1935a; 1935b; 1935c, 1938, 1942; Luz, 1937), modification in the described methods (Angely, 1942a; 1942b; Lucas, 1942), and the need for the inclusion of monographs for exotic medicinal plants (Costa, 1941; Luz, 1944c), important native plants (Costa e Lucas, 1941; Cunha, 1940), or even the removal of a product from it (Luz, 1941). These contributions led to the publication of the first and second supplements of FBRAS, in 1941 and 1942, respectively (Lucas, 1943). Some of the monographs included in the supplements were already part of the 1^st Edition, but were improved (Stellfeld, 1947).

In the present work we describe the results obtained in a new revision of the first edition of the FBRAS and its two supplements. Table 1 shows data about simple pharmaceutical formulas prepared with medicinal plants and botanical products and Table 2 describes the formulations constituted by more plants and products.

The use in conventional medice of several native medicinal plants was officialized by their inclusion on the 1^st Edition of the FBRAS. Many of those formulas were excluded from the 2^nd and 3^rd editions of FBRAS due to, among other factors, pressures from the international pharmaceutical industry, which was interested in promoting their products, specially the synthetic ones. It is possible that the preparations described in the 1^st Edition of the FBRAS present some therapeutic efficacy, since they were used for centuries in the official and traditional medicine. These plants and products need to be evaluated through pharmacological and toxicological assays (validation studies). It is also important to evaluate the combination of products in the formulations, which could result in improved pharmacologic efficacy.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study, in association with the previous one, reveal that hundreds of medicinal species, including native ones, were officialized in the past through inclusion in the 1^st Edition of the FBRAS. Studies aiming at the validation of these species should be prioritized and stimulated.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank CNPq and FAPEMIG for research grants and for fellowships (PQ, APT, IC).

Received 15 January 2008; Accepted 16 February 2008

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Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  14 Apr 2008
• Date of issue
  Mar 2008

History

• Accepted
  16 Feb 2008
• Received
  15 Jan 2008