The Chelatation safeguard of herbal medicinal products

Abstract

Heavy metal toxicity can result damaged or reduced mental and central nervous function, lower energy levels, damage to blood composition, lungs, kidneys, liver and other vital organs, Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, allergies and cancer. It has been reported that the toxicity of heavy metals can be reduced by plants compounds such as: vitamins C, E, and A, minerals, essential amino acids, flavonoids, sulfur-containing compounds (thiosulfinates), dietary fibers, triterpene (oleanolic acid, ursolic acid, hederin, glycyrrhizin, betulin, soyasapogenol A and B, uvaol), steroids and lignans. Phytoremediation is clearly a new field, and one which has great potential. Plants have the ability to accumulate heavy metals which have no known biological function. Plants absorb and translocate large concentrations of metals and accumulate them in their growing parts, especially in their leaves, without showing any toxicity symptoms. Several mechanisms may contribute to the decrease of the heavy metals toxicity depending on the type of metal and plant species, among them: induction of metal chelating proteins – Phytochelatins and induction of metallothioneins. Phytochelatins are synthesized enzymatically from glutathione (GSH) in response to many metals. Metallothionein is a thiol-rich protein (ca. 33 mol% cysteine) that can bind both heavy metals and reactive oxygen species like the hydroxyl radical. As an anti-oxidant,metallothionein has been shown to be as much as 100x as effective as glutathione (GSH). Additional chelators (Herbs compounds) support our health by enhancing our body’s ability to handle free metal catalyzed reactions. Herbs can help alleviate problem of the heavy metals Toxicity, as phytochemicals (plant chemicals) have been found to bind to heavy metals in food and drinks in the digestive tract and inhibit their absorption. This then gives our body a better chance of excreting the metals naturally.