Kolanut has been found to halt the deadly Ebola virus in its tracks
in laboratory tests.
Scientics used a compound from Garcinia kola, a
plant commonly eaten in West Africa.
Compounds from the plant have
also proved effective against some strains of flu. If the anti-Ebola
compound proves successful in animal and human trials, it will be the
first medicine to successfully treat the virus that causes Ebola
haemorrhagic fever – an often-fatal condition.
The discovery was announced at the 16th International Botanical
Congress in St Louis in the US.
Four deaths per five cases.
The Ebola virus was first documented in 1976 after an outbreak in
Zaire – now the Democratic Republic of the Congo – where 88 per cent
of the 318 human cases died.
More recently, a 1995 outbreak in the same country had a death rate of
81% of the 315 infected.
There are four types of the virus – Ebola-Zaire, Ebola-Sudan and
Ebola-Ivory Coast all affect humans, while Ebola-Reston has so far
only affected monkeys and chimpanzees.
However, doctors have been unable to stop the virus once infection has
taken hold – hence the disease has gained a terrifying reputation.
Traditional origins
Dr. Maurice Iwu, who set up and heads the Bioresources Development and
Conservation Programme, led the research.
It started 10 years ago when researchers were led to the plant by
traditional native healers who have used the plant for the treatment
of infectious diseases for centuris.
"This is a very exciting discovery," said Dr. Iwu, who himself comes
originally from a family of traditional healers.
"The same forest that yields the dreaded Ebola virus could be a source
of the cure."
Fighting chance
The virus multiplies rapidly in the human body and quickly overwhelms
it, and in advanced cases the patient develops high fever and severe
bleeding.
The Garcinia kola compound has been shown to halt multiplication of
the virus in the laboratory. If repeated in humans, this would give
the body a chance to fight off the virus.
The active compound is what is known as a dimeric flavonoid, which is
two flavonoid molecules fused together.
Flavonoids are non-toxic and can be found in orange and lemon rinds as
well as the colourings of other plants.
Drug hopes
The tests are in the early stages still, but the researchers hope that
if they continue to prove successful the compound the US Food and Drug
Administration will put it on a fast track – making a drug available
to humans within a matter of years.
"The discovery of these important properties in a simple compound –
flavonoids – was very surprising," said Dr. Iwu.
"The structure of this compound lends itself to modification, so it
provides a template for future work.
"Even if this particular drug does not succeed through the whole drug
approval process, we can use it to construct a new drug for this
deadly disease."
Note: This article was first published by the British Broadcasting
Corporation on August
5, 1999 when Prof. Maurice Iwu was still Dr.
Maurice Iwu. Prof. Iwu was a former Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission. He has since returned to his first love
of researching after his service at INEC.
