MOSCOW, October 12. Scientists from Saratov State Medical University named after. IN AND. Razumovsky (SSMU) have developed an innovative antitumor herbal medicine based on Avran officinalis. Basic research has been conducted for more than ten years and, according to researchers, has shown convincing results. Based on them, the university received permission from the Russian Ministry of Health to conduct a clinical trial of the first phase.
Gratiola officinalis is a wild perennial herbaceous plant, widespread in many regions of Russia, has poisonous properties, but was previously used in folk medicine as part of decoctions (Zdrenko's collection).
As Alexander Fedonnikov, vice-rector for scientific work at SSMU, said, the new drug based on Avran has no direct analogues in the world pharmacopoeia. He explained that the drugs existing on the market are cytostatic by their mechanism of action, that is, they cause massive destruction of tumor cells, accompanied by severe intoxication of the body.
Meanwhile, scientists from SSMU claim that the innovative herbal medicine based on avran activates apoptosis — programmed cell death, realized under normal conditions of the body.
“According to the results of preclinical studies, the drug gives much fewer side effects and is easier to tolerate by the body,” the vice-rector emphasized, adding that the created extract is a contender for the position of the first antitumor drug of plant origin in the class. According to his estimates, industrial production and clinical use of the drug may turn out to be an advanced import-substituting technology in the treatment of cancer.
The technology for obtaining avran was developed by scientists from the Research Institute of Fundamental and Clinical Uronephrology, the Department of Pathological Anatomy and the Faculty of Pharmacy.
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” A complex recipe was selected: the herb was mixed with alcohol, dissolved in water, in chloroform, etc. Comparing different fractions of extracts, we selected the most active one. This is how a herbal medicine was obtained from components with maximum biological activity,” explained Professor Natalya Polukonova.
According to her, as part of preclinical studies, data were obtained on the safety of the drug in various types of laboratory animals. In addition, the potential effectiveness of the herbal medicine has been proven.
«Our experiments on laboratory animals have shown that a monthly intake of the resulting extract reduces the rate of tumor growth by 70%. These are very good figures. The medicine is considered potentially effective if it inhibits tumor development by at least 30%,” she added.
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The university reported that research was conducted on ten cell lines of different types of cancer — kidney cancer, bladder cancer, sarcoma, liver cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer and others. Based on the results, the university received permission from the Russian Ministry of Health to conduct a phase 1 clinical trial. It is expected that cancer patients in advanced stages of cancer will take part in it.
“These people will receive the most extensive treatment, and the developed medicine is planned to be prescribed in addition to it,” said Natalya Polukonova, explaining that in this sense, scientists are guided by global ethical practice — any new antitumor drugs can be used for the first time only for patients with late stages of the disease. The clinical trial will be conducted at the university — at the University Clinical Hospital No. 1 named after. S.R. Mirotvortseva.
According to Saratov scientists, the possibility of using an extensive raw material base for collecting wild-growing raw materials of Avran officinalis, the presence of production technology already introduced into industrial production ensures 100% localization in Russia of the entire production cycle — from collecting the plant to the finished dosage form.
«Medicinal plants are not only promising, they have been in our medicine cabinets for a long time, they work. The successful completion of this clinical trial of the drug will allow us to move on to research on the following phases to assess its effectiveness, and based on the results of a series of clinical studies, carry out the procedure for its state registration,” noted the vice-rector of the university, adding that with this development the university entered the federal project of the Russian Ministry of Health “Medical Science for Humans.”