Iowa Researchers to Study Botanicals with NIH Grant

AMES, IowaThe National Institutes of Healths (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) and National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) are funding a new botanical research center at Iowa State University, designed to bring researchers together from ISU, the University of Iowa and Yale University. The multidisciplinary research team will study Hypericum L. (St. Johns wort), Prunella vulgaris (common selfheal) and several types of Echinacea for their anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties.

The work of all of the NIH-sponsored botanical research centers has proven to be important in advancing science in this area, said Paul Coates, Ph.D., director of ODS. We expect that this center at Iowa State University and the University of Iowa will continue to provide new insights into factors that can influence levels of bioactive components in plants and thereby modify the biological effects of botanicals used in dietary supplements.

The studies at ISU will focus on identifying compounds and chemical profiles for anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activities and complement research at other centers that are studying the botanicals and inflammation. NIH currently funds six dietary supplement research centers focused on botanicals.

Given that millions of Americans are using natural products, this research center will join several other NIH-funded botanical centers in conducting key research to determine whether and by what mechanisms botanicals may serve as effective treatments or preventive approaches, said Ruth L. Kirschstein, M.D., acting director of NCCAM.