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Ephedra

Ephedra. Ephedra -Habit. Ephedra. An evergreen shrub native to central Asia Predominant active alkaloid- ephedrine Other active alkaloids include: pseudoephedrine norephedrine norpseudoephedrine. Ephedra - T.S. stem. Ephedra strobilus. Ephedra - Male cone. Ephedra - Female cone.

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Ephedra

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  1. Ephedra

  2. Ephedra-Habit

  3. Ephedra • An evergreen shrub native to central Asia • Predominant active alkaloid- ephedrine • Other active alkaloids include: pseudoephedrine norephedrine norpseudoephedrine

  4. Ephedra- T.S. stem

  5. Ephedrastrobilus

  6. Ephedra- Male cone

  7. Ephedra- Female cone

  8. Ephedra- Fruits

  9. Ephedra-Life-cycle

  10. Traditional Uses of Ephedra (ma huang) • Tea prepared from dried, comminuted branches • Used for ~5000 yrs. by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat asthma, flu, and nasal congestion • Combined with other herbs to enhance or decrease effects

  11. History of Conventional Uses of Ephedra • 1887- Ephedrine first isolated by Japanese chemist, N. Nagai • 1920’s- Series of studies on ephedrine’s pharmacological properties leads to synthetic production • 1927- Widely used as a nasal decongestant, central nervous system stimulant, and to treat bronchial asthma • 1950’s- Many reports of side effects such as  blood pressure and  heart rate lead pharmaceutical companies to switch to pseudoephedrine

  12. Physiological Effects • Strong stimulant- enhances the release of norepinephrine (NE) from sympathetic nerve endings (see handout) • Has 1 and 2 agonist activityrelaxes bronchial muscles • Has 1, 2, 1, and 2 adrenergic activityleads to less desirable effects such as  blood pressure,  heart rate, and nervousness • To compensate, the body releases adenosine and prostaglandin (PG) which inhibit the release of NE

  13. Physiological Effects • Caffeine and aspirin may inhibit and/or reduce the effects of adenosine and PG continued NE activation • “ECA” stack • ephedrine alkaloids (ma huang) • caffeine (Gaurana, Bissey Nut, Kola) • aspirin/salicin (Willow Bark extract)

  14. Reported Benefits • Increased weight loss due to thermogenic effect • Enhanced athletic performance • Increased energy • 3 billion servings sold during 1999 12 million people using ephedra

  15. Adverse Effects • Dizziness, tremors, irregular heart rate myocardial infarctions, strokes • May induce psychological dependence • 1993-2003- FDA documented 2,277 adverse event reports (AER) concerning cardiovascular, neurological and psychiatric effects (~1% of total?) • Type ‘A’ AE- directly related to the pharmacological actions of the active ingredient • Type ‘B’ AE- rare and difficult to separate from pre-existing conditions; cause/effect hard to prove

  16. Thank You…

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