The Mexican researcher Max Vidal Gutiérrez, PhD student at the Universidade Estadual Paulista in Brazil, develops two phytopharmaceuticals from the plant Ibervillea sonorae , better known as wereque, which thanks to its antitumor activity could become an effective option in the treatment of cancer.
This plant is popular in the north of Mexico, mainly in Sonora and Sinaloa, where it has traditionally been used by the Mayo, Opata, Seri and Yaqui communities to treat skin conditions.
Vidal Gutiérrez, who is a graduate of the University of Sonora (Unison), explained that his research began after learning about the results obtained by professor Heriberto Torres Moreno on molecules from the root of the plant with potential antitumor activity, which can be used as markers in the preparation of phytopharmaceuticals.
He explained that there are two stages of great importance in the development of a phytopharmaceutical: the chemical and biological. The project includes the integration of these two stages using analytical chemistry tools, such as HPLC, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance.
In addition, he said, the phytochemical profiles of phytopharmaceuticals previously designed for use in cancer research were studied.
Later, when biological studies are conducted, in vitro and in vivo cancer models will be used to determine the antitumor activity of these two phytopharmaceuticals, he said.
The chemical and biological stages of this research are supported by the prestigious researchers Wagner Vilegas, from the Universidade Estadual Paulista and Ramón E. Robles Zepeda, from the University of Sonora, said Vidal Gutiérrez during a presentation he offered at the Seminar of the Unison Department of Biological and Agricultural Chemistry Sciences.
Source: CienciaMX
