Ebola Virus Can Be Halted By Bitter Kola? - Research Says

A plant has been found to halt the deadly
Ebola virus in its tracks in laboratory tests,
scientists have said.

They used a compound from Garcinia kola, a
plant commonly eaten in West Africa.
Compounds from the plant have also proved
effective against some strains of flu.
If the anti-Ebola compound proves successful
in animal and human trials, it will be the first
medicine to successfully treat the virus that
causes Ebola haemorrhagic fever - an often-
fatal condition.
The discovery was announced at the 16th
International Botanical Congress in St Louis in
the US.

Four deaths per five cases
The Ebola virus was first documented in 1976
after an outbreak in Zaire - now the
Democratic Republic of the Congo - where
88% of the 318 human cases died.
More recently, a 1995 outbreak in the same
country had a death rate of 81% of the 315
infected.

There are four types of the virus - Ebola-
Zaire, Ebola-Sudan and Ebola-Ivory Coast all
affect humans, while Ebola-Reston has so far
only affected monkeys and chimpanzees.
However, doctors have been unable to stop
the virus once infection has taken hold -
hence the disease has gained a terrifying
reputation.

Traditional origins
Dr Maurice Iwu, who set up and heads the
Bioresources Development and Conservation
Programme, led the research.
It started 10 years ago when researchers were
led to the plant by traditional native healers
who have used the plant for the treatment of
infectious diseases for centuries.

"This is a very exciting discovery," said Dr
Iwu, who himself comes originally from a
family of traditional healers.
"The same forest that yields the dreaded Ebola
virus could be a source of the cure."

Fighting chance
The virus multiplies rapidly in the human
body and quickly overwhelms it, and in
advanced cases the patient develops high
fever and severe bleeding.
The Garcinia kola compound has been shown
to halt multiplication of the virus in the
laboratory. If repeated in humans, this would
give the body a chance to fight off the virus.

The active compound is what is known as a
dimeric flavonoid, which is two flavonoid
molecules fused together.
Flavonoids are non-toxic and can be found in
orange and lemon rinds as well as the
colourings of other plants.

Drug hopes
The tests are in the early stages still, but the
researchers hope that if they continue to
prove successful the compound the US Food
and Drug Administration will put it on a fast
track - making a drug available to humans
within a matter of years.

"The discovery of these important properties
in a simple compound - flavonoids - was very
surprising," said Dr Iwu.
"The structure of this compound lends itself
to modification, so it provides a template for
future work.

"Even if this particular drug does not succeed
through the whole drug approval process, we
can use it to construct a new drug for this
deadly disease."

*I got this off BBC website so i am assuming
this is authentic,however dont quote me
please. try bitter kola well
wrapped in birthday wrappers,you can even
turn it into bitter kola juice.