Nutraceuticals: An Uphill Journey
By - 05/14/2007
Kamal Dua
The increased tendency to develop better nutraceuticals has opened new vistas for pharma people. Due to their obvious advantages they are proving themselves as emerging vital and better alternatives to be employed as medicines.
Introduction:
It is common knowledge that foods provide nutrients that help to nourish our bodies and keep our systems in proper working condition. However, from early in human history, it was also known that certain foods confer additional health benefits to humans such as prevention and treatment of various types of diseases. “Let food be thy medicine” is a popular quote from Hippocrates that emphasizes the role of foods in disease prevention and recognizes a separate role for foods in addition to their being simply nutrient providers. Recently, scientists have become focused on the health-promoting effects of foods and there is now abundant evidence that supports the role of various foods/food components in promoting human health. Such health-promoting foods or compounds are generally classified into 2 major categories:
- Functional foods are often conventional foods that are consumed as part of a usual diet, but apart from supplying nutrients they can also reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as cancer, hypertension, kidney malfunction, etc. A typical example of a functional food is tomato, which is rich in the antioxidant lycopene and helps to remove toxic compounds from our bodies, thereby preventing damage to essential organs. Other typical examples of functional foods include soybeans, fish, oat meal, cereal bran (wheat, rice), and tea (green and black). Apart from traditional foods, there are also functional foods that are produced through food processing such the antihypertensive sour milk that has been shown to reduce blood pressure in humans.
- Nutraceuticals are health-promoting compounds or products that have been isolated or purified from food sources and they are generally sold in a medicinal (usually pill) form. A good example is a group of compounds called isoflavones that are isolated from soybean seeds and packaged into pills that women can use instead of synthetic compounds during hormone replacement therapy. Other examples of nutraceutical products include fish oil capsules, herb extracts, glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate pills, lutein-containing multivitamin tablets and antihypertensive pills that contain fish protein-derived peptides. It is important to note that the efficacy of some of these products is still a subject of continuing debate and research within the scientific community; therefore, consumers should consult with their physicians or health providers before using such products, especially if they are already on physician-prescribed medications 1 .
The term "nutraceutical" was coined from "nutrition" and "pharmaceutical" in 1989 by Stephen DeFelice, MD, founder and chairman of the Foundation for Innovation in Medicine (FIM), Cranford , NJ . According to DeFelice, nutraceutical can be defined as, "a food (or part of a food) that provides medical or health benefits, including the prevention and/or treatment of a disease 2 ."
However, the term nutraceutical as commonly used in marketing has no regulatory definition 3 .
Foods and/or Compounds Having Potential Beneficial Health Effects in Humans:
1. Cactus Pear 4 :
The multiple functional properties of cactus pear fit well the trend of nutraceuticals. Recent data revealed the high content of some chemical constituents, which can give added value to this fruit on a nutritional and technological functionality basis. High levels of betalains, taurine, calcium, magnesium, and antioxidants are noteworthy. Additionally, some of the constituents show promising characteristics in terms of functionality.
2. Rice Bran 5 :
The prevention of cardiovascular disease events is related to a complex anagement of conventional and non-conventional risk factors. The first approach to reduce the cardiovascular disease risk is a correct dietary approach. Rice bran and its main components (Fibres, unsaturated fatty acids, triterpene alcohols, phytosterols , tocotrienols, alpha-tocopherol) have demonstrated their property to improve the plasma lipid pattern of rodents, rabbits, non-human primates and humans, reducing total plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentration and increasing the high density lipoprotein cholesterol level. Other potential properties of rice bran components have been studied both in vitro and in animal models such as modulation of the pituitary secretion, inhibition of the gastric acid secretion, antioxidant action and inhibition of the platelet aggregation. The main aim of this paper is to review the available data on pharmacology and toxicology of rice bran and its main components with a particular attention to those data suggesting a potential efficacy in reducing the cardiovascular disease risk.
3. Sesame:
Many nutraceutical uses have been discovered from sesame. Sesame lignans have antioxidant and health promoting activities 6. High amounts of both sesamin and sesamolin have been identified in sesame 7 . Both sesamin and sesamolin were reported to increase both the hepatic mitochondrial and the peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation rate. Sesame seed consumption appears to increase plasma gamma-tocopherol and enhanced vitamin E activity, which are believed to prevent cancer and heart disease 8 . Sesamin remained at 90% of the original level after roasting 9 . Cephalin from sesame seed has hemostat activity and ranges from 133,168 to 233,856 ppm 10 . Historically, fiber is used as an antidiabetic, antitumor, antiulcer, cancer preventive, cardioprotective, and laxative. Sesame seed contains lecithin, which has antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity.
4. Catechins 1 :
From epidemiological studies we now know that people who consume tea on a regular basis have fewer incidences of chronic diseases than non-tea drinkers. The active component has been identified as catechin, which is very abundant in green tea, although black tea also contains sufficient quantities. For tea drinkers to reap maximum benefits, it is important that the tea is boiled for several minutes to extract high quantities of catechins into the liquid beverage. Catechins are strong antioxidants that inhibit damage to DNA and blood vessels, thereby reducing the risks of cancer development and cardiovascular diseases, respectively. Cranberry juice contains high levels of epicatechin polymers that prevent adhesion of viruses and bacteria to the urinary tract; regular consumption of cranberry juice or cranberry concentrate tablets has been shown to reduce antibiotic requirements in women experiencing urinary tract infection.
5. Indigestible carbohydrates 1 :
Dietary intake of plant fibres is important for maintaining a healthy gut and reducing glucose absorption, which can be beneficial to diabetic patients. Plant fibres are highly concentrated in the bran of seeds and this has led to promotion of whole grain consumption as a way of maintaining a healthy lifestyle; such fibres are also abundant in fruits and vegetables. Consumption of insoluble fibres such as cellulose and hemicellulose, as found in bran, leafy vegetables or fruit skins (e.g. apples and pears), serve as roughage and help to reduce the caloric value of diets, which is important in obese and diabetic conditions. Soluble fibre (also called gums and pectin) is abundant in whole grain barley and oats, as well as in fruits such as ripe strawberries and bananas; this type of fibre forms a viscous indigestible mass in the gut and helps trap digestive enzymes, cholesterol, starch, glucose, and toxins that are then expelled through the faeces. In this way, soluble fibre can help obese people reduce the
Regulatory Concerns on Nutraceuticals 11 :
The class of products christened 'Nutraceuticals' had a relatively late entry into the Indian Healthcare scene, even though diverse preparations originating from Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM), notably Ayurveda have been marketed by several Companies, mostly as health rejuvenators, for decades. The approval for marketing these products are granted by State Governments' Regulatory Agencies under the advise of experts in ISM. It is thus obvious that both Nutraceuticals, as well as products marketed under ISM labels, which together could constitute as much as one-third of the pharmaceutical market in the Country, should be brought under appropriate regulatory mechanisms and controls, so that they serve effectively not only as alternate systems, but as complementary to modern medicine, thereby filling the current gaps in therapeutics for many disease areas.
Conclusion:
In nutshell, nutraceuticals are gaining popularity and becoming the focus of attraction to the pharma world. Comapritively lesser side effects and complications associated with nutraceuticals are responsible for their wide spread acceptance. The need of the hour is that the pharma and particularly the herbal industries should come forward to exploit the immense hidden therapeutic potential present in the natural products. Nutraceuticals are presenting excellent opportunities for research scholars and industry people to exploit their usefulness.
References:
1. Rotimi Aluko, Functional Foods and nutraceuticals, http://www.foodsciencecentarl.com.
2. Brower V., Nat Biotechnol. 1998; 16: 728-731.
3. Zeisel SH. Regulation of "Nutraceuticals." Science.1999; 285:185-186.
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5. A.F.G. Cicero1, and G. Derosa, Current Topics in Nutraceutical Research Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 29-46, 2005.
6. Kato, M.J., A. Chu, L.B. Davin, N.G. Lewis. 1998., Phytochemistry 47:583–591.
7. Sirato-Yasumoto, S., M. Katsuta, Y. Okuyama, Y. Takahashi, and T. Ide. 2001. ,J. Agr. Food Chem. 49:2647–2651.
8. Cooney, R.V., L.J. Custer, L. Okinaka, and A.A. Franke. 2001., Nutr. Cancer 39:66–71.
9. Abe, S., Y. Hirakawa, S. Takagi. 2001. ,J. Sci. Food Agr. 81:620–626.
10. Beckstrom-Sternberg, S.M., J.A. Duke, and K.K. Wain., http://arsgenome. cornell.edu/cgi-in/WebAce/webace?db=ethnobotdb. (Data version July 1994b).
11. M.D.Nair, Regulatory concerns on nutraceuticals: The Indian Scenario, Pharmabiz, June 02, 2004.
About Authors:
Kamal Dua
Workign as a Lecturer, Department of Pharmaceutics, DJCOP,Niwari Road Modinagar and having more than three years of professional experience.
Vijay Kumar Sharma
Workign as a Asst.Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, DJCOP,Niwari Road Modinagar and having more than ten years of professional experience.
U.V.Singh Sara
Workign as a Director and Head, Department of Pharmaceutics, DJCOP,Niwari Road Modinagar and having more than thirteen years of professional experience.
Jai Kumar Tripathi
Student, B.Pharm, DJCOP, Niwari Road Modinagar
Vaibhav Sinha
Student, B.Pharm, DJCOP, Niwari Road Modinagar
Puneet Kumar
Student, B.Pharm, DJCOP, Niwari Road Modinagar
Dr.M.V.Ramana
Presently working as a Prinicipal at Vigyan Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology, Vishakhapatnam,A.P. and he is having more than 13 years of professional experienece.