Natural Products Industry Insider, AZ
06-04-07
NIH Funds Iowa Research Center for Botanicals
WASHINGTON—The Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a grant to Iowa State University (ISU) to
study botanicals used as ingredients in dietary supplements. A multidisciplinary
research team will study Hypericum (St. John’s wort), Prunella (Self heal) and
several types of Echinacea for their anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties.
The newly funded center will be headed by Diane Birt, Ph.D., an ISU
distinguished professor, and will bring together researchers from ISU, the
University of Iowa and Yale University.
“The work of all of the NIH-sponsored botanical research centers has proven to
be important in advancing science in this area,” said Paul Coates, Ph.D., director
of ODS. “We expect that this center at Iowa State University and the University of
Iowa will continue to provide new insights into factors that can influence levels of
bioactive components in plants and thereby modify the biological effects of
botanicals used in dietary supplements.”
Currently, NIH (http://ods.od.nih.gov/) funds six dietary supplement research
centers focused on botanicals, emphasizing basic and preclinical research of
potential benefit to human health. The studies at ISU will focus on identifying
compounds and chemical profiles for anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activities;
this work is intended to complement research at the other botanical centers
studying inflammation, which has been identified as a common denominator of a
number of chronic diseases, such as heart disease.