ARTICLE IN PRESS

doi:10.1016/j.ph

Phytomedicine 15 (2008) 152

www.elsevier.de/phymed

BOOK REVIEW

Ethnopharmacology of Medicinal Plants: Asia and the

Pacific, C. Wiart. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ (2006).

228pp., US$160.00, Hardcover

This book presents several aspects of the pharmaco-logy, chemistry, botany and folkloric use of selectedmedicinal plants that can be found in Asia and thePacific. It is generously illustrated with line drawings formany of the plants under discussion, as well as examplesof chemical structures. Over 100 plant species arepresented, each with some combination of data fromthe literature on local names, taxonomic synonymy,brief botanical descriptors, plant distribution, habitatpreference, reports of ethnomedical use, known chem-istry and pharmacological activity.

The book is organized into three chapters, based onthree broad areas of pharmacological activity: anti-inflammatory, CNS and cancer chemotherapeutic activ-ities. Each chapter begins with an introduction to basicpharmacological principles, as well as examples ofethnomedically derived plants used in therapy, includingtheir major pharmacologically active compounds andrelevant chemical structures. Each chapter concludeswith positive suggestions about the medicinal potentialof the Asian Flora, and suggestions about the chemo-taxonomic relevance of particular Asian plant familiesfor further pharmacological investigation.

Each chapter is organized into several sections, basedon specific pharmacological activities. (The chapter onanti-inflammatory activity, for example, is subdividedinto five sections: inhibitors of phospholipase A2,

ymed.2007.06.012

inhibitors of COX, inhibitors of lipoxygenases, inhibi-tors of elastase and inhibitors of NO synthase.) Selectedmedicinal plants are presented in each section, organizedby plant Family. It is interesting to note that plants canbe placed in a particular pharmacological sectionregardless of their reported ethnomedical utilization.A report of pertinent ethnomedical use, pharmacologi-cal test results or chemotaxonomy, or any combinationof the above, can form the basis of their inclusion.

The author employs a coordinated approach to drugdiscovery, based on an evaluation of the scientificliterature, combining data on the ethnomedical use ofplants, experimental pharmacology, phytochemistry andchemotaxonomy. As in any approach that is based onsecondary data, a critical review of the literature isessential. Although each chapter contains a selection ofbibliographic references on pharmacology and chemis-try, there is an almost complete lack of citations for thebotanical and ethnomedical aspects, which may makethis book less appealing to the botanically or ethno-botanically inclined.

This book should be of interest to academic,industrial or government scientists with an interest inthe potential of the regional flora for drug discovery.

James GrahamDepartment of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy,

University of Illinois College of Pharmacy,

833 S. Wood Street, Chicago,

IL 60612-7231, USA