national parkinson foundation-mucuna pruriens

7/27/2019 National Parkinson Foundation-mucuna Pruriens

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NATIONAL PARKINSON FOUNDATION, INC.

1501 N.W. 9th Avenue / Bob Hope RoadMiami, Florida 33136-1494

Beans (MucunaPruriens) For Parkinsons Disease:An Herbal

Alternative

Bala V. Manyam, M.D., NPF Center of Excellence Plummer Movement Disorders Center Department ofNeurologyGlenn R. Cryer, Scientific Publications and Biomedical CommunicationsScott & White Clinic and Texas

A&M University Health Science System College of Medicine Temple, Texas

Parkinsons disease drugs like most other drugs used today, are chemicals synthesised in the laboratory and

then manufactured. Making drugs in the laboratory is a slow, expensive

and tedious process. This is one reason in plants and other natural

sources but only five percent of them have been explored to-date.

Plant based drugs for Parkinsons disease, include L-DOPA containing

sources such as the seeds of Mucuna pruriens (Figure 1 : Mucuna

pruriens plant showing pods) and Vincia faba, the same chemical

compound that has been used for Parkinsons disease in the last 30

years. Seeds of Datura stramonium have an anticholinergic effect,

similar to Artane and Cogentin. Banisterine from Banisteria caapi and

Nicotiana tabacum has monoamine oxidase inhibitor that is similar to

selegiline (deprenyl). In this article, we will discuss more about Mucuna

pruriens.

Before explaining how the powder from the Mucuna pruriens plant is

being used as an alternative therapy, it should be noted that Parkinsons

disease affects more than one million people in the U.S. alone, and new and effective treatments for this

particular disease are goals of many researchers. Parkinsons disease is a degenerative neurological disease that

primarily impacts the part of the brain that produces dopamine, a chemical substance that allows neurologic

impulses to be sent from one terminal end of a nerve cell to the beginning of another nerve cell terminal. In

Parkinsons disease, however, there is not enough dopamine produced by the brain for its needs. The simple act

of walking may not be so simple. The disease can effect the body in many ways. The most common symptoms

of the disease include trembling (shaking), stooped posture, muscular stiffness, short shuffling steps, speaking

softly and rapidly, poor balance, poor handwriting, and of course, slowness of body movements. The cause of

the disease is not known, however, a variety of medications can control the symptoms.

Physicians in ancient India first used Mucuna seeds in the treatment of Parkinsons disease over 4500 years ago.

The Indian medical system is called Ayurveda, which is the worlds oldest system of medicine based on scientific

principles. Ayurveda is founded on scientific principles. It has a long history of use of herbal remedies and has

documented data on mechanism of action, specific action, short-term and long-term toxic effects, drug-drug and

drug-diet interaction with a long history of use in humans. As per historical evidence, Parkinsons disease

existed in ancient India and was called Kampavata.


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This was over 4500 years ago even though the disease acquired its present name from

James Parkinson who redescribed the disease in 1817 A.D. In the Ayurvedic system,

powder of Mucuna is used for treating Parkinsons disease and is subjected to special

processing. The English name "cowage" plant (Mucuna pruriens) is derived from Hindi

Kiwach. In Sanskrit, it is called Atmagupta. Mucuna is a twiner with trifoliate leaves,

purple flowers, and turgid S-shaped pods covered with hairs that cause intense itching on

contact with the skin. The plant belongs to the family Leguminosae, which is indigenous

to India and has long been used in Ayurveda since ancient times. Overdose effects of

Mucuna were also recognized in Ayurveda. These included headache, dystonia, fatigue,

tremor, syncope, and thirst. Many of these could also occur from synthetic L-DOPA. In

the modern times, two Indian scientists isolated L-DOPA from Mucuna in 1936 and

published their results. However, at that time the role of L-DOPA in Parkinsons was not

known, hence not much attention was given to the discovery. Subsequently, when dopamine deficiency was

linked to Parkinsons disease in the 1960s, scientists got interested in finding a source of L-DOPA for treatment

of Parkinsons disease. Because, the presence of L-DOPA was known to be present in the legume, initial

attention was paid to extract levodopa from various Mucuna seeds and in fact, over a thousand plants were

screened for the high content of L-DOPA. As L-DOPA was synthesized, further work on extraction of L-DOPA

from beans was abandoned.

The amount of Mucuna powder used by Ayurvedic physicians was small compared to the amount of synthetic L-

DOPA used to produce the same benefit; if one looks at the amount of L-DOPA alone. This is what led to one of

the authors (BVM) to further study how such a small quantity of levodopa in Mucuna could have helped and

thought possibly that there could be other undiscovered drugs in Mucuna that may enhance either the activity of

L-DOPA such as carbidopa as seen in Sinemet or there may be an independent compound in Mucuna that may

have a direct effect on symptoms of Parkinsons disease. This idea led to collaboration between Drs. Manyam

with Dr. K. M. Parikh, President of the Zandu Pharmaceutical Works, a leading

Ayurvedic manufacturing company located in Bombay,

India. Their team conducted a series of experiments to

establish and to develop a drug for Parkinsons disease

from Mucuna (Figure 2 : Mucuna beans with skin (left),

beans with skin removed (right) and powder). The

initial work required making the drug from Mucuna

palatable. They developed a preparation and named it

HP200, which is a powder form and has to be mixed

with water just before administration. This is the first

"liquid levodopa" preparation ever made. They also

established that when mixed with water the preparation

remained stable for several hours. The powder was also

tested so that there was no loss of active compounds

during storage.

Despite the fact Mucuna was used in the treatment of Parkinsons disease in ancient times, it is still important

today to establish that the drug dose not have adverse effects on various vital organs. This was accomplished by

administering low to very high doses of the drug in rats and rabbits and testing the effect of Mucuna on blood

Bala V.

Manyam, M.D.

Figure 2


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chemistry and blood count (such as the one that many physicians perform in their offices and the hospitals) and

various organs. Some of the tests were done for as long as one year and the results indicated no adverse effects

were present from Mucuna preparations.

To establish how Mucuna would compare to synthetic L-DOPA, experiments were undertaken in animal models

of Parkinsons disease. Two different doses of synthetic L-DOPA and two different doses of Mucuna were

administered making sure that the amount of L-DOPA present is the same in Mucuna as was the doses of

synthetic L-DOPA. The effects of the drugs were tested using a specially designed instrument called

"Rotometer." Dose for dose, Mucuna was two to three times more effective than equivalent amounts of

synthetic L-DOPA. This suggests that Mucuna may contain compounds that make L-DOPA function better such

as carbidopa, tolcapone (Tasmar), or entacapone (COMTan). It may also suggest that Mucuna independently

improve symptoms of Parkinsons disease. Although quite encouraging, more research is needed to confirm

these findings. This work was done at the time when the United States Congress established the Office of

Alternative Medicine in the National Institute of Health and the work was one of the first to receive funding for

alternative medicine.

Additional studies in India were undertaken to establish the benefit of HP200 in patients with Parkinsons

disease. Four medical centers were selected involving sixty patients and several neurologists. The studies were

conducted for three months. During that time, the patients received HP200 while no concomitant L-DOPA

preparations were administered. Trained neurologists monitored changes in the degree of patents symptoms

and any side effects. At the end of the study, it was determined that the HP200 was highly beneficial in the

treatment of Parkinsons disease. The side effects were minimal. HP200 was approved by the Indian Food and

Drug Administration and is available in India under the brand name Zandopa. Further, the cost of the drug was

much cheaper compared to the synthetic drugs; thus it became more affordable to the patients. The United

States Food and Drug Administration approve the drug for clinical studies, however, it is not available from the

pharmacist.

Work on the Mucuna for Parkinsons disease is being continued. The importance of this particular study is not

that Mucuna is an alternative to L-DOPA, rather it is that compounds occurring naturally in plants for example,

may contain biologically active components that can be isolated, tested, and used to provide safer and better

treatments for Parkinsons disease.

national parkinson foundation-mucuna pruriens

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