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Biodiversity and medicines projects
Variability of herbal medical products – chances and failures of quality management in value chains of Rhodiola rosea containing herbal medicinal products
Project Description: Overall little is known
about the impact of different value chains on the quality of a herbal medical
product sold, for example in the UK. This project studies diverse value chains
that lead to products containing Rhodiola
rosea root extracts, a traditional herbal medicine commonly used, for
example, for the relief of symptoms
associated with stress, such as fatigue, exhaustion and mild anxiety.
Herb-Drug interactions in developing countries
Project Description:
A plethora of active
compounds found in herbal medicines can serve as substrate for enzymes involved
in the metabolism of xenobiotics. When a medicinal plant is administrated with
a synthetic drug and nothing or only little information is know about the pharmacokinetic
of the former, the risk of a potential herb-drug interaction is increased.
Legal Highs - Novel Psychoactive Substances
Project description: Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS) are chemicals or
natural products that structurally resemble existing and controlled drugs of
abuse but are outside of legislation. These materials are often referred to as 'Legal Highs', but this is an inaccurate and misleading term as they can often
contain drugs that are controlled under the Misuse of Drugs legislation. Our research studies the chemistry and pharmacology
of these materials to understand their potential harms.