Animal Use of Medicinal Plants

Learning Objectives:

•Describe how various plants improve fitness in animals

•Evaluate evidence for self-medication by animals

•Describe plants used by and for animals in health care

African Elephant

Loxodonta africana

A pregnant female seeks a particular tree to consume at end of gestation

Female walked 17 miles in 1 day to find tree; usually only 3 miles per day

Kenyan women brew tea from leaves of same tree to induce labor

(Boraginaceae)

Monarch butterfly on Asclepias (Milkweed)

How do scientists know that an animal is purposely consuming a plant for medical

self-treatment?• Characteristic behaviors?

• Questions/Experiments?

Evolutionary Pressures that Lead Animals to Medicinal Plants

1970’s: Chimpanzees in Gombe National Park, Tanzania

- Jane Goodall & Hugo

- Chimps use leaves in “non-nutritional” ways

- Self-medication

Two Interesting Behaviors of Chimpanzees:

1) Whole leaf-swallowing

2) Bitter pith-chewing

- Often by chimps in poor health

Depressed / despondent

Isolated from group

Diarrhea

- Seasonal variation (especially the rainy season

Aspilia mossambicensis

Whole leaf-swallowing

Whole young leaves carefully selected

Placed in mouth one at a time

Not chewed but rolled around in

mouth before swallowing

In Gombe: visit Aspilia patch first; only

in the morning

A. pluriseta

A. rudis

Leaves defecated intact

Folded accordion-style

(not used for nutrition)

Leaves of Aspilia spp. very hairy

Hypothesized to be a mechanical method of purging adult parasites

TrichomesWorms lightly attach to intestinal mucosa

Illness due to larvae - encapsulated by inflammation

Leaves scrape sides of intestines, removing worms

“Velcro Effect” – adult worms pulled off (eggs do not develop in humans)

1985: Thiarubrine A isolatedPotent antifungal & antibiotic agent

Results could not be replicated for leaves; found in roots-supports “velcro” hypothesis

30 plant species whose rough leaves are swallowed whole by chimps, bonobos, gorillas

Aspilia species used by local human groups for scurvy, malaria, rheumatismAlso used to increase lactation & as a childbirth aid

Other compounds in Aspilia stimulate uterine contractions (Page et al. 1992)-Aspilia more heavily used by female chimps in Gombe-Fertility control?

Vernonia amygdalina

Bitter Pith-Chewing

Sick individuals:

Individual recovers ~ 24 hrs

Leaves & outer bark removed

Pith exposed

Bitter juice sucked out

Bitter Pith-ChewingActive Compound: Vernonioside B1

• Antiparasitic, anti-tumor, antibacterial properties

• Suppresses movement & egg-laying

- Often lower fecal egg counts

Leaves and roots highly toxic!

Local human uses:- Parasitic infections, stomach aches,

strength tonic, malaria

- Anthelmintic for livestock

- Insecticide

Vernonia amygdalina

Evidence for medicinal use by chimpanzees:

Which came first? Human or Animal use of plants?

Navajo: Bear gave them Ligusticum porteri to use as medicine

- Root used by brown bears and Kodiak bears

- Stomach ache, bacterial infections

- Shown to have anti-bacterial properties

Evolved independently

OR

Chimps learned from humans

OR

Humans learned from chimps

Aeschynomene sp.

Red colobus monkeysProcolobus pennantii kirkii

- Prefer to eat Indian almond & mango trees

High in protein

Possess many secondary compounds (phenols)

that interfere with digestion

- Consume charcoal from charred stumps, logs

Has high adsorptive capacity for phenols

- Birth rates, population densities higher where

almond and mango trees + charcoal is available

- Charcoal also used by humans to inactivate

lethal compounds, prevent intestinal infections

Scarlet Macaw

Ara macao

- Ingest soil / clay

Clay Lick

• grit

• needed minerals

• inactivate poisonous cmpds

Is this self-medication or adaptation?

Muriqui Monkey

Brachyteles arachnoides

Search out leaves of Apulia leiocarpa & Platypodium elegans

- Contain isoflavanoids similar to estrogen- Natural “birth control”?

Also search for fruit of Enterlobium contortisilquim

(Monkey’s Ear)

- Contains stigmasterol (precursor to progesterone)

Useful for treating skin irritations, parasites?

White-faced Capuchin Monkey

Cebus capucinus

Observed in Costa Rica rubbing fur with fruit and leaves of:

Citrus, Clematis, and Piper

- These all have secondary compounds that are insecticidal

Same plants used in similar ways by indigenous people

http://faculty.ucr.edu/~maryb/rubbing.html

Starlings

Line nest with fresh vegetation

Daucus carota (Queen Anne’s Lace)

Kills fowl mites

Steroid B-sitosterol

- Repels mites, inhibits egg-laying

Starlings

- Chicks have greater mite infestations if herbs removed

Evidence:

- Larvae emergence delayed if plants placed in bag with nesting material

- Ability to detect aromatic plants varies seasonally

Greatest at beginning of breeding season

- Plants also used by humans to treat skin problems

eczema, sores, ulcers

Animal Plant Use

• Seek nutritionally balanced diets• Preventive care (behavior and plant)• Ingesting plants when sick• Rubbing plants on body • Getting happy

Veterinary Medicine

Pet Statistics:

Dogs:

Cats:

• 74 million in US• 4 in 10 households have at least one dog• Owners spend average $196 per year

• 90 million in US• 3 in 10 households have at least one cat• Owners spend average $104 per year

2005 National Pet Owners Survey

63% of all households own a pet

Animals metabolize compounds differently than humans

Example: Theobromine can be fatal in animals!

- Metabolized much more slowly (up to 20 hrs)

- Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting

Diarrhea, increased urination

Arrhythmia

Epileptic seizures

Heart attack

Toxic dose for 50 lb dog - 5 oz of baking chocolate

- Amount of theobromine differs by chocolate type

Milk = 44 mg/ozSemi-sweet = 150 mg/ozBaker’s = 390 mg/oz

Why use medicinal plants to treat pets?

• People more critical of products containing chemicals, artificial coloring, additives.

• More people consuming supplements and herbal products.

• People want to treat their pets in the same way.

More vets are incorporating medicinal plant treatment into their practices.

Ex. Veterinary Botanical Medical Association (VBMA)

Livestock

Problems with traditional treatments?

– Antibiotic resistance– Anthelmintic resistance

Organic Meat

Coprophagia• Changes in food plant sources over time (e.g.

grasses) • Horses eat plants containing cellulose in cell

walls– Microbes break down cellulose– Co-evolution of microbial community

• Newborn foals – Cannot digest grasses– Eat manure of mother

to gain correct microbial community in cecum

– After colic surgery or illness: give yogurt and products containing bacteria or “poop soup” from a healthy horse

Topical Treatments:

Easiest to integrate into a practice

Examples: Aloe vera - skin irritations

Witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

Sesame seed oil

Caution: Do not use any oil containing phenols or benzyl alcohol in cats (causes liver damage)

ValerianValeriana officinalis

Root used in some herbal treatments:

Calming, intoxicating

Cat: Intravenous use increases coronary

blood flow while reducing heart rate

and blood pressure

May be useful in treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (most common cause of spontaneous death in indoor adult cats)

ValerianValeriana officinalis

Some cats become intoxicated with the plant when it gets bruised

Will roll all over plant and destroy it in gardens

Equally attractive to ratsOften used to bait traps

Pied Piper of Hamelin may have rubbed himself with Valerian roots

Why? Stimulates release of GABA (limits excitability of CNS) and inhibits reuptake

Like catnip!

Folk Veterinary Medicine

Example: Ethnobotanical survey of Moradabad district, India (Ali 1999) •45 plant species identified including:

– Trigonella foenum-graecum (Fabaceae) increases lactation in goats

– Acacia nilotica (Gum Arabic Tree) for hoof rot (Stem bark decoction mixed with powder of alum)

Acacia nilotica