AN EXTRACT of seeds from an African rainforest tree is showing promise as a
treatment for the deadly Ebola virus. 鈥淔rom the same African forests that gave
us Ebola, we could have a cure,鈥� claims Maurice Iwu of the Bioresources
Development and Conservation Programme in Nsukka, Nigeria.
Nigerian traditional healers use seeds of the Garcinia kola tree, known as
bitter kola, as a remedy for many ailments. 鈥淲hen the healer does not know what
is wrong, the drug of choice is an extract of Garcinia kola,鈥� says Iwu, who
arranged for the extracts to be tested as antiviral drugs.
In tests conducted by the US Army鈥檚 Medical Research Institute of Infectious
Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland鈥攐ne of the few centres worldwide
equipped to handle Ebola鈥攁 mixture of chemicals extracted from bitter kola
has emerged as one of several dozen substances that inhibit the growth of the
virus in laboratory cultures of monkey cells. Unlike most other candidates, it
doesn鈥檛 appear to be toxic. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very unusual to see this strong an antiviral
activity in a compound that is nontoxic,鈥� says James Miller, head of applied
research at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St Louis.
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