Plantas Utilizadas Para Tratar El Cancer

PLANTAS UTILIZADAS PARA TRATAR EL CANCER
Catharanthus roseus
Familia: Apocynaceae
Nombre científico: Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don.
Nombre común: Catarantus, Pervinca, Vinca rosa, Pervinca rosa, Dominica.
Arbusto de 30-40 cm de altura con flores color blanco, rojo o rosa intenso.

Uso etnomédico
Contiene alcaloides de acción anticancerígena utilizados en el tratamiento de leucemia,enfermedad de Hodgkin, linfomas malignos y sarcoma de Kaposi, se usa para la obtención industrial de vincamina, sustancia empleada para la recuperación de accidentes cerebro-vasculares, traumatismos craneales e infartos al miocardio, diabetes, analgésico.
Origen: Madagascar.

Principios activos
Las hojas y las raíces se caracterizan por la presencia de más de 60 alcaloides del grupo de losindoles, entre los más importantes por su actividad antineoplásica se encuentran la vincristina y la vinblastina.
Vincristina Vinblastina

Mecanismo de acción
La vincristina y la vinblastina son antimitóticos. Inhiben la polimerización de los microtubúlos, evitando laformación del huso. Bloqueando la mitosis y la parada del ciclo celular en lametafase.
Presentaciones farmacéuticas
Polvos liofilizados.
Indicaciones terapéuticas
Estos principios activos son utilizados en la terapia del cáncer de manera intravenosa.
Vincristina: 0.05 a 0.15 mg/kg
Vinblastina:0.1 a 0.2 mg/kg

Estudios que respalden la citotoxicidad o efectividad
Cytotoxicity of Vinca minor.
Khanavi M, Pourmoslemi S, Farahanikia B, Hadjiakhoondi A, Ostad SN.Department of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Source
Department of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Plants Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Vinca minor L. (Apocynaceae) is a medicinal plant that has long been used to treat cerebral and memorydisorders in European folk medicine. Furthermore, it contains more than 50 alkaloids, some of them having bisindole structure such as the antineoplastic alkaloids present in Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don (Apocynaceae). In this study, the plant's alkaloid extract was divided into three fractions and the cytotoxic effects on cell proliferation of HT-29, Caco-2, T47D, and NIH/3T3 cell lines wereexamined. All alkaloid fractions showed a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on the cell lines. IC(50) values confirmed that the growth and proliferation of NIH/3T3 cells were less affected in comparison to other cell lines.
Human Health Effects:
Human Toxicity Excerpts:
/HUMAN EXPOSURE STUDIES/ Fifteen children suffering from leukemia were subjected to tympanogram, stapedial muscle reflex, pure toneaudiometry and transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAEs) in the absence and presence of contralateral white noise on day 1 and on day 22 of treatment with vincristine. The function of the medial olivocochlear bundle was assessed by the phenomenon of suppression of otoacoustic emissions by contralateral application of white noise. The study revealed a statistically significant decrease ofcontralateral suppression amplitudes in all cases after three sessions of chemotherapy with vincristine. On the contrary no alterations were observed in pure tone audiometry thresholds. A non-significant decrease of the mean TEOAEs' amplitudes was also noted. When analyzed by frequency, however, this decrease reached the level of statistical significance at two frequencies. Vincristine treatment seemsto exert a neurotoxic effect on the efferent olivocochlear system, which takes place early in the course of chemotherapy.
[Riga M et al; Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 71 (1): 63-9 (2007)] **PEER REVIEWED** PubMed
Contraindicaciones
Embarazo y lactancia.
Efectos secundarios
Nauseas, vomito, diarrea, dolor de cabeza.

Interacciones
La administración de estos pueden tener un efecto...