69. Drugs are obtained from
1) Flowering plants 2) Fungi
3)Bacteria
4) Both 1 & 2
Answers
Answer:
ABSTRACT
The use of and search for drugs and dietary supplements derived from plants have accelerated in recent years. Ethnopharmacologists, botanists, microbiologists, and natural-products chemists are combing the Earth for phytochemicals and “leads” which could be developed for treatment of infectious diseases. While 25 to 50% of current pharmaceuticals are derived from plants, none are used as antimicrobials. Traditional healers have long used plants to prevent or cure infectious conditions; Western medicine is trying to duplicate their successes. Plants are rich in a wide variety of secondary metabolites, such as tannins, terpenoids, alkaloids, and flavonoids, which have been found in vitro to have antimicrobial properties. This review attempts to summarize the current status of botanical screening efforts, as well as in vivo studies of their effectiveness and toxicity. The structure and antimicrobial properties of phytochemicals are also addressed. Since many of these compounds are currently available as unregulated botanical preparations and their use by the public is increasing rapidly, clinicians need to consider the consequences of patients self-medicating with these preparations.
“Eat leeks in March and wild garlic in May, and all the year after the physicians may play.” Traditional Welsh rhyme (230)
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Traditional American rhyme
Finding healing powers in plants is an ancient idea. People on all continents have long applied poultices and imbibed infusions of hundreds, if not thousands, of indigenous plants, dating back to prehistory. There is evidence that Neanderthals living 60,000 years ago in present-day Iraq used plants such as hollyhock (211, 224); these plants are still widely used in ethnomedicine around the world. Historically, therapeutic results have been mixed; quite often cures or symptom relief resulted. Poisonings occurred at a high rate, also. Currently, of the one-quarter to one-half of all pharmaceuticals dispensed in the United States having higher-plant origins, very few are intended for use as antimicrobials, since we have relied on bacterial and fungal sources for these activities. Since the advent of antibiotics in the 1950s, the use of plant derivatives as antimicrobials has been virtually nonexistent.
Clinical microbiologists have two reasons to be interested in the topic of antimicrobial plant extracts. First, it is very likely that these phytochemicals will find their way into the arsenal of antimicrobial drugs prescribed by physicians; several are already being tested in humans (see below). It is reported that, on average, two or three antibiotics derived from microorganisms are launched each year (43). After a downturn in that pace in recent decades, the pace is again quickening as scientists realize that the effective life span of any antibiotic is limited. Worldwide spending on finding new anti-infective agents (including vaccines) is expected to increase 60% from the spending levels in 1993 (7). New sources, especially plant sources, are also being investigated. Second, the public is becoming increasingly aware of problems with the overprescription and misuse of traditional antibiotics. In addition, many people are interested in having more autonomy over their medical care. A multitude of plant compounds (often of unreliable purity) is readily available over-the-counter from herbal suppliers and natural-food stores, and self-medication with these substances is commonplace. The use of plant extracts, as well as other alternative forms of medical treatments, is enjoying great popularity in the late 1990s. Earlier in this decade, approximately one-third of people surveyed in the United States used at least one “unconventional” therapy during the previous year (60). It was reported that in 1996, sales of botanical medicines increased 37% over 1995 (116). It is speculated that the American public may be reacting to overprescription of sometimes toxic drugs, just as their predecessors of the 19th century (see below) reacted to the overuse of bleeding, purging, and calomel (248).
Answer:
1) Flowering plant is answer