An Amazon plant would be able to constitute the base of a medicine to fight the fever of the dengue, according to Brazilian investigators. Uncaria tomentosa, this plant has antiviral properties and of regulation of the immune system, by its anti-inflammatory effects.

The infection of the fever causes fever, queasiness, headache and abdominal pain. As a last resort -known hemorragicc fever- the immune system reacts exaggeratedly causing decrease of the arterial pressure, and bled of the mucous membrane and of the weavings under the skin, what can cause the death of the patient.

“We reacted a solution containing substances extracted from cat’s claw with immune cells and noticed that the product inhibited the production of cytokines, proteins necessary to react to the inflammatory effects of dengue,” biologist Claire Kubelka, chief of the laboratory and one of the coordinators of the study, told SciDev.Net.

The researchers also found fewer dengue virus cells in immune cells that had been treated with the cat’s claw preparation.

The tests were carried out in the laboratory, but, according to the researcher, if the effects are repeated in humans, a treatment derived from cat’s claw could dampen the immune response to dengue infection and reduce the chance of death.

But years of testing remain until a medicine could be available, warns Kubelka.

No effective medicine exists so the only recommended treatment is hydrating patients while they are recovering.

Besides Uncaria tomentosa, the Brazilian group is currently looking for anti-dengue properties in solutions of approximately 15 other plants.

Image to link: Apoverlag

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