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SECTION
OF PHARMACEUTICAL BIOLOGY |
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Plants
have been not only the main sources of medicines throughout the
world for millennia, but also the basis for the modern pharmacological
methods and for preparing synthetic drugs, a high percentage
of which were developed from lead compounds discovered in plants.
Recently, WHO confirmed that herbal medicine (crude drugs, extracts
and their active principles) is the most used remedy to cure
common diseases for about 80% of the population all over the
world.
Till today, plants are a considerable source of biologically active substances;
in fact a significant portion of all currently used medications are derived,
either directly or indirectly, from active principles that have been isolated
from plants.
That many traditional remedies are of therapeutic value is no longer open to
doubt, but the use of manufactured products should be governed by the same standards
of quality, safety and efficacy as are required for modern conventional pharmaceutical
products. |
Staff |
Prof.
Daniela Giachetti (Associate Professor)
Dr. Elisabetta Miraldi (Researcher)
Dr. Marco Biagi (Contractor) |
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Research
Activity |
The
Section of Pharmaceutical Biology is involved in Pharmaceutical
Botany and Pharmacognosy, that is concerned with composition
and effects of naturally occurring substances having a medicinal
action (directive CEE 83/570).
Scientific activity has focused on botanical, chemical, pharmacological
and toxicological study of medicinal plants, in order to know
the chemistry and the biology of active principles and to determine
their possible pharmacological value.
Scientific activity follows two different research lines:
- phytochemical aspect: accurate extraction and analytical procedures
are developed in order to know the quali-quantitative composition
of medicinal plants. The analyses are often carried out in collaboration
with CIADS (University of Siena) by means of advanced apparatus
(GC, GC-MS, HPLC, ESI).
- pharmacological aspect: the therapeutic efficacy of medicines
used in phytotherapy is evaluated on the basis of scientific
methods, such as conventional medicines. Pharmacological analyses
are often carried out together with Faculty of Medicine (University
of Siena).
At present, many spontaneous and cultivated species are investigated,
and particularly drugs active as antidepressant (Hypericum
perforatum), as cicatrizant (Arum italicum), and
as flavouring (Foeniculum vulgaris, Peumus boldus).
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