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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 17th, 2009, has about $5 billion US dollars (of a total of $787 billion) allocated for scientific and medical research.¹ A handful of these studies involve research on herbs and herbal dietary supplements.

There are several interesting uses for herbal ingredients being researched with the aid provided by these federal grants. For example, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Jeevan Prasain, PhD, is testing whether metabolites in cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) can protect against bladder cancer.² Researchers at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor are studying the effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale) root as a preventative of colorectal cancer. For the ginger study, Suzanna Zick, ND, MPH, and her team of 10 other researchers are using the $98,022 to hire a part- and full-time employee, creating 2 jobs (oral communication, October 21, 2009). Specifically, the supplemental grant will fund the analysis of a panel of inflammatory markers in the gut tissue of people at normal or high risk for developing colorectal cancer. The grant funds will be used to obtain supplies, rent equipment, and hire the personnel to run the inflammatory marker assay, according to Dr. Zick.

“If we didn’t have this stimulus grant, it wouldn’t make us as competitive for the next grant,” said Dr. Zick. “Bio-marker work is expensive.”

Dr. Zick also added, “Ginger is an up-and-coming herb in cancer prevention.” She further noted that the main use she and her colleagues are studying is the prevention of colorectal cancer, not cancer treatment, as in previous animal studies ginger was most effective if rats were given ginger before cancer started growing or at the very beginning. She also added that ginger may be effective against metastatic cancer as it has strong anti-inflammatory properties.

Another interesting study, taking place at the Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, involves the possible inhibition of cancer cell proliferation by the constituents in American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius, grown in Wisconsin, obtained from the Wisconsin Ginseng Board). The grant received by lead researcher Laura Murphy, PhD, will total $275,000 with $125,000 awarded the first year and $150,000 the second. The $125,000 will primarily be used for the salary of a new technician. This ginseng research team currently consists of 2 research technicians, and 1 undergraduate student whom is working for class credit. The researchers hope to further recruit 1 graduate student (whose stipend will have to be paid by the department of physiology) and 1 unpaid undergraduate intern.

In the research team’s research project they have found repeatedly that oral ginseng treatment helps the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin be more efficacious in decreasing human breast cancer tumor growth in nude mice. According to Dr. Murphy, there has been nothing published using animals or in humans related to this specific ginseng indication.

“But, it is very difficult to tease apart the mechanism of action,” said Dr. Murphy (e-mail, October 20, 2009). “The uniqueness of this project is that we recognize that ginseng is a virtual ‘drug store.’ Treating a mouse with a single ginsenoside or polysaccharide component does not tell you what ginseng will do.”

Another study, taking place at the University of Arizona, involves the efficacy of turmeric (Curcuma longa) root extract in the prevention of post-menopausal osteoporosis, which, according to lead researcher Janet Funk, MD, currently has no past human clinical trials for this indication (e-mail October 19, 2009). Dr. Funk explained that the supplemental grant of $10,322 will fund the work of an undergraduate for the summer as well as $1,000 worth of supplies. Her research team currently consists of 1 technician and 2 graduate students.

Tariq Haqqi, PhD, the lead researcher of a study at the University of South Carolina at Columbia, and his team are evaluating whether pomegranate (Punica granatum) fruit extract may slow cartilage degeneration in osteoarthritis. Though this group has done research on the effect of pomegranate extract on human cartilage in the past, there have been no human clinical studies of the effect of pomegranate on osteoarthritis, according to Dr. Haqqi (oral communication, October 27, 2009). Dr. Haqqi also said that out of the $137, 004 awarded for the grant $37,000 is an indirect cost going to the University for operating expenses such as electricity, waste disposal, etc., and the other $100,000 will be used for the salary of one research associate as well as supplies.

At the University of Illinois at Chicago, Birgit Dietz, PhD, and her research team have been awarded $275,000 to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the co-treatment of red clover (Trifolium pratense) and tamoxifen, a drug shown to treat and prevent breast cancer, and black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) and tamoxifen, which according to Dr. Dietz are combinations that have not yet been well-studied (oral communication, October 23, 2008). The reason that tamoxifen is often used with these botanicals is that its use has a side effect of hot flashes which is a condition that black cohosh is traditionally used to treat.² Both plants, according to Dr. Dietz, also have cancer-preventive compounds, which means that they may even help reduce tamoxifen-induced endometrial cancer, as tamoxifen use tends to increase the risk of endometrial cancer.

There are many herbal studies being supported by the federal stimulus, and perhaps this will set a trend for years to come.

References

1. Heim K. Federal money boosts local health and social services non-profits. The Seattle Times. October 2, 2009. Available at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/thebusinessofgiving/2009984663_more_federal_money_flows_in_ma.html. Accessed October 15, 2009.

2. NIH Grants Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Page. US Department of Health and Human Services website. Available at http://report.nih.gov/recovery/arragrants.cfm. Accessed October 15, 2009.