Patent ID: 6156291
Filing Date: 2000-12-05
Classification: A61K,A61P,G01N

Abstract:
A method of obtaining a reproducible extraction process for use as a standard process for extracting a pharmacologically active mixture of chemical components from a plant, the method comprising:(a) extracting a plurality of pharmacologically active mixtures of chemical components from a plant in a plurality of different extraction processes, to produce a plurality of extracts;(b) obtaining a biological fingerprint of the pharmacological activity of each extract from step (a) by conducting at least two in vitro and at least two in vivo pharmacological tests on each extract, wherein each of the tests is known to correlate with effective treatment of a medical condition in a patient;(c) choosing the one of the plurality of extracts which displays the best pharmacological activity in step (b);(d) repeating, at least once, the extraction process used to produce the chosen extract of step (c), to produce at least one test extract;(e) (1) obtaining chemical fingerprints of the chosen extract and the at least one test extract by distinguishing the identify and amount, relative to each other, of the chemical components in the pharmacologically active mixture of each extract, and(2) repeating said obtaining step (b) using the at least one test extract; and(f) comparing the chemical fingerprints and the biological fingerprints of the chosen extract and the at least one test extract, whereinwhen the chemical components of the at least one test extract are present in an amount which is at most 10% more or less than the amount of the same chemical component of the chosen extract, andwhen each pharmacological test result of the at least one test extract is at most 10% more or less than the corresponding pharmacological test result of the chosen extract,then the extraction process used to produce the chosen extract is selected as the standard process for extracting the pharmacologically active mixture of chemical components from the plant.