Dr. Marianna Pochelli, Prevent Disease Waking Times
Feb. 2, 2014
Beyond limited empirical observations, not all medicinal
plants have established scientific studies to support their effectiveness.
However, in the case of Brucea javanica, it is one of those
plants in which scientific investigations have provided enough evidence to
prove that it has an impressive efficacy for the treatment of cervical, bladder
and pancreatic cancers. Its selective toxicity has also been found to kill 70%
of breast cancer cells.
Oncologists are still at a loss to find methods of selectively
killing cancer cells through the standard protocols of treatment in chemotherapy and radiation. While damaging healthy cells is
an inevitable process through most cytotoxic drugs, chemotherapy also triggers them to secrete a protein that
sustains tumor growth and resistance to further treatment.
As more knowledge and research is being extended to populations
confined to conventional allopathic principles, the broad categories of herbal
and plant medicines are finally reaching the mainstream. The effectiveness of
medicinal plants and foods to treat cancer is perhaps receiving the most
widespread attention. Dietary anti-angiogenic foods alone have sparked so much interest in
the cancer community, that even veteran Physicians are beginning to recommend
them to cancer patients.
Brucea javanica (Brucea javanica (L.) Merr) is one of those plants that needs
far more recognition in this category for its incredible ability to selectively
kill cancer cells.
A shrub original from South-east Asia, and occurs from Sri Lanka
and India towards Indo-China, southern China, Taiwan, Thailand and even
northern Australia, B. javanica has been the subject of
hundreds of studies and clinical trials, all of them aimed to better understand
two main key issues: First how effective this plant really is; and secondly, if
it is so effective, which active constituents are responsible for its
anti-cancer properties.
B. javanica is
a monoecious or dioecious shrub or small tree that can grow up to 10 m tall
with soft-haired twigs and leaves. It prefers open localities such as light
secondary forests and thickets, forest edges, ridges, and even occurring in
sunny places on sandy dunes and on limestone. It grows under both per-humid and
seasonal conditions from sea level up to 900 m altitude
For several millennia, herbal preparations and natural remedies
from B. javanica have been shown to be effective in treating
many types of maladies including malaria, and amoebiasis as well as cancer.
Approximately half of the drugs currently in clinical use are of natural
origin, however many of these drugs become toxic with substantial side effects
due to the integration of artificial chemical compounds in their formulas.
B. javanica contains
alkaloids (brucamarine, yatanine), glycosides/quassinoids (brucealin,
yatanoside A and B, kosamine, bruceantin, bruceantarin, bruceantinol), and
phenol (brucenol, bruceolic acid). The seeds contain brusatol and bruceine. The
pulp oil contains fat, oleic acid, linoleic acid, stearic acid, and palmitoleic
acid. Fruit and leaves contain tannin.
To date, 153 compounds have been reported from the seeds and
aerial parts of Brucea javanica. Quassinoids are the main constituents of this
species. The extract of Brucea javanica and the isolated compounds, specifically
quassinoids exhibit various biological properties and are well known for their
antitumor effects, especially how they are selectively toxic to cancer cells.
A study in the American
Journal of Medical Science demonstrated that the aqueous extract
from B. javanica and the induction of apoptosis by components
of B. javanica is an indicated mechanism by which it kills
cancer cells. The study found that B. javanica treatment lead
to 70% cell death in breast cancer cells.
Another study in the American
Journal of Chinese Medicine from researchers at the Department of
Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine,
Hongzhou , China
A study from the international journal Cancer
Letters, researchers showed that brucein D (BD), a quassinoid found
abundantly in B. javanica fruit,
inhibited the growth of three pancreatic cancer cell lines. They provided
experimental evidence to support the traditional use of B. javanica fruit in
cancer treatment, and render BD a promising candidate for further development
into anti-pancreatic cancer agent.
Yet another study in the International
Journal of Molecular Medicine, demonstrated the antiproliferative and
apoptotic activities of B. javanica along
with other herbal traditional Chinese medicines. They concluded that the
programmed cell death of cancer cells activated by specific proteins was 5
times higher in cells treated with B. javanica.
Bruceantin, a contituent of B. javanica has
also been found to interfere with the growth of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma
cells.
Regardless of centuries of empirical observation as well as the
scientifically documented evidence of B. javanica as a
medicinal plant and bonafide anti-cancer potential, the World Health
Organization (WHO)monographs of selected medicinal plants, claims that no
medical uses for B. javanica are supported by clinical data.
About the Author
Dr.
Marianna Pochelli is a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine
specializing in the treatment of disease through superfoods and herbal
strategies. She actively promotes detoxification, colon cleansing, and a
vegetarian lifestyle using living foods as a platform to health.
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