Herbal Antibiotics: Natural Alternatives for Treating Drug-Resistant Bacteria (15 page)

The importance of systemic herbal antibacterials cannot be overstated.

Many resistant diseases, such as staph, are widely spread throughout the body. They can affect internal organs, invade difficult-to-reach parts of the body, or, very commonly, infect the skin (from the inside rather than outside), appearing as skin ulcerations in various locations. To treat a systemic infection like staph, an herbal antibiotic that is systemically spread throughout the body is necessary.

I remember the first time someone told me she had a community-acquired systemic staph infection; it was a woman who'd come to hear me teach. She said that she had undergone numerous courses of antibiotics, and that after the last one failed the physicians had told her, “Well, let's just observe it and see what happens.” Her furious response was, “I know what's going to happen, I'm going to lose my foot.”

I began to understand then just how important systemic antibacterials are in herbal practice. With resistant bacterial infections spreading at the rate they are, we
need
systemics—we need to know them as a category and we need to
really
know how to use them. We need to move from herbalism as a kind of “let's-eat-organic-today” choice (unless we're really sick; then we'll go to the emergency room) to a “we-can-depend-on-this-for-our-life” form of healing.

When herbs are taken into the body, some just stay pretty much in the GI tract, whereas others cross the intestinal membranes and circulate in the body, often concentrating in particular locations; the liver or kidneys, for instance. But one class of herbs is always broadly systemic. Once ingested they concentrate in the bloodstream (and sometimes the liver) and are widely circulated, reaching every cell that needs a constant blood supply, which is pretty much every cell in the body. These are the herbs that have traditionally been used to treat malaria. Many, if not most of them, also tend to possess rather strong antibacterial actions, sometimes broadly so. It is important, however, to make a distinction between the two common types of malarial herbs, for not all malarial herbs are true antimalarials.

Some malarial herbs are widely systemic and actually do kill the parasites responsible for malaria, but others only treat some of the symptoms of the disease such as fever or chills. Many researchers
have not understood the distinction and so they may list an herb as being used for malaria when in fact it is
only
being used as an adjunct herb to treat one of the symptoms of malaria; for instance, when yarrow is used to treat malarial fevers.

Yarrow isn't a systemic antimalarial (even though it does have some mild actions against the parasite) but, rather, is a diaphoretic adjunct. It helps reduce fevers because it induces sweating, which cools the body. When researching the ethnobotanical literature, it is crucial to understand this distinction between the different kinds of malarial herbs. Once you do, their study begins to open up the wider world of systemic antibacterials. Systemic antibacterial herbs have often been used for centuries in the treatment of malaria simply because one of their antimicrobial actions is against malarial organisms. But they are often widely active against other organisms and can be very powerful. (Systemic antibacterials may also be found in a particular category of Chinese medicine—plants for toxic blood.)

The first systemic herbal antibiotic I began to understand was
Cryptolepis sanguinolenta
, a traditional herbal medicine from Ghana. I was introduced to it by a healer from Ghana, Nana Nkatiah, and it was this herb that I recommended to the woman who approached me at the workshop. Her family had become infected through exposure to her and at this point they were all ill. They used cryptolepis and it worked very well. Since then I have used cryptolepis on numerous occasions to treat systemic staph infections that have not responded to multiple antibiotic regimens. It has, so far, never failed. I consider this plant, along with alchornea, sida, and bidens, to be
the
primary systemic herbal antibiotics for use in treating resistant organisms at this time.

While cryptolepis is sometimes hard to find, many of the other herbs in this section are not—at least in the wild. They are often widely distributed throughout the world; a number of them are considered invasive plants, which is a plus.

Invasive plants—Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines.

Family:
In flux, given the propensity of botanical PhD students to write dissertations on minutiae; probably Apocynaceae (subfamily Periplocoideae) or perhaps Asclepiadaceae

Common Names:
Cryptolepis (in the West) • delboi • gangamau (among the Hausa) • Ghanian quinine • kadze (among the Ewe) • koli mekari (among the Mpiemo peoples in the Central African Republic and the eastern part of Cameroon) • nibima (among the Twi-speaking people of Ghana) • ouidoukoi • yellow dye root

Species Used:
There are about 20 or maybe 30 (taxonomists are so irritating) species of cryptolepis, 10 or more in Africa, two in Madagascar, four in Asia, three in Papua New Guinea, and one in Australia, and probably others elsewhere if that larger number is accurate. The primary systemic antibacterial among the genus is
Cryptolepis sanguinolenta.

The potency of
C. sanguinolenta
has generated a lot of interest in this genus of plants.
C. triangularis
, native to Angola, Lagos, Belgian Congo, and Gambia, has, like
C. sanguinolenta
, been found to contain cryptolepine, one of the more potent antimalarial alkaloids known. (Some sources consider these two to be the same plant; others list them as distinct species.) Some sources say that
all
the members of this genus contain the antibacterial alkaloids cryptolepine, quindoline, and neocryptolepine. I have been unable to verify this by finding any in-depth chemical analysis of the other species. A number of sources do list cryptolepine and similar alkaloids as present in
C. buchanani
, a traditional Ayurvedic plant, commonly used as a medicinal in Thailand, Nepal, and India. It may be true; the traditional uses of
C. buchanani
show the same range of action as that of
C. sanguinolenta
,
so I tend to give the reports credence.
C. hypoglauca
is reported in one study to contain cryptolepine, but I can't find anything definitive on that either.

Of all the plants in the genus,
C. buchanani
and
C. obtusa
have stimulated the most interest outside
C. sanguinolenta
. Given the importance of
C. sanguinolenta
, in-depth chemical research needs to be done on the entire genus to determine whether the other species within it can be used as effectively.

The root is usually the part used medicinally (or in dyeing). The leaves
can
be used medicinally (see the description of the plant's chemistry below) but rarely are. The root of the plant is generally about the thickness of a pencil, appears to be fairly consistent in thickness over long lengths, and has a light tannish color on the thin exterior bark and a brilliant yellow on the interior. It's pretty. The root is exceptionally bitter due to the many alkaloids present.

Cryptolepis can be prepared as powder, capsules, tea, or tincture.

For bacterial infections of the skin and wound sepsis, liberally sprinkle cryptolepis powder on the site of infection as frequently as needed.

1:5, 60 percent alcohol, 20–40 drops, up to 4x daily

For resistant staph:
In the treatment of severe systemic staph infection, the usual dose is ½ tsp–1 tsp, 3x daily. In very severe cases increase the dose to 1 tbl, 3x daily. (I prefer to not use dosages this high for longer than 60 days. That is usually sufficient.)

For malaria:
1 tsp–1 tbl, 3x daily for 5 days, repeat in 14 days

Use 1 teaspoon cryptolepis in 6 ounces water to make a strong infusion.

As a preventive:
Drink 1 or 2 cups daily.

In acute conditions:
Drink up to 6 cups daily.

Note:
While the herb will work if infused in cold water, studies have found that the hot-water extraction is more effective. It is nearly as strong as the alcohol tincture.

As a preventive:
Take 3 “00” capsules 2x daily.

In acute conditions:
Take up to 20 capsules daily.

None noted. Considerable research has taken place to determine the potential adverse reactions from using the plant, and none have been found, either in human clinical use or with in vivo testing on mice, rats, and rabbits. The herb is taken as a regular tonic for years at a time in some parts of Africa and India. One or two cups of the tea or two or three droppers of the tincture (60 to 90 drops) a day are fine for extended, long-term use.

Researchers in some instances have noted that people taking cryptolepis have elevated levels of ALP (alkaline phosphatase) and uric acid, which return to normal after the herb is discontinued. There have been no reported side effects from this. And though there is one report in the literature of adverse effects of cryptolepis in mouse pregnancy, I can find nothing in traditional use that substantiates an extrapolation to humans nor any studies in the literature that show negative effects in pregnancy in people.

Cryptolepine has been found to be cytotoxic, which raises concerns in some people. A few points:

• Cryptolepine is an isolated constituent, and like most isolated constituents that are made into pharmaceuticals, it produces side effects that don't appear when the whole herb is used.
Cryptolepis itself has not been found to be cytotoxic to people.

• The word
cytotoxic
, when used in reports, generally means it kills cancer cells, and indeed, cryptolepine does.

• Cryptolepine is cytotoxic because it intercalates DNA. DNA is a double helix, two joined twisted ladders. Cryptolepine inserts itself between the two ladders—that is, intercalates—and as a result interferes with cellular division, which is why it is useful in cancer treatment. Cryptolepine is a potent inhibitor of topoisomerase II, which it inhibits once it intercalates. The function of topoisomerase II is to allow DNA replication by unwinding the DNA helix, using it as a template, then winding it again after replication. If topoisomerase is inhibited, DNA replication, and cellular division, can't occur.

None noted. However … cryptolepis has been used in traditional medicine to help rectify insomnia. One mouse study has supported that effect of the plant. There is some potential for the plant to synergize with hypnosedatives or central nervous system depressants. Caution should be exercised, although there have been no reported adverse effects in these situations to date.

Actions

Antibacterial

Anticomplementary activity

Anti-inflammatory

Antimalarial

Antimicrobial

Antimuscarinic

Antiparasitic

Antiprotozoal

Antipyretic

Antithrombotic

Antiviral (mild)

Hypoglycemic

Hypothermic

Noradrenergic

Renal vasodilator

Active Against

Aspergillus
spp.

Babesia
spp.

Bacillus subtilis

Campylobacter
spp.

Candida
spp.

Entamoeba histolytica

Enterobacter cloacae

Escherichia coli

Herpes simplex

Klebsiella
spp.

Mycobacterium
spp.

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Plasmodium
spp.

Proteus mirabilis

Proteus vulgaris

Salmonella
spp.

Shigella dysentariae

Staphylococcus aureus

Streptococcus pyogenes

Tests have found the plant to be a stronger antibacterial than the pharmaceutical antibiotic chloramphenicol. Generally, it is more broadly active against Gram-positive bacteria (which are usually easier to treat due to their cellular structure), but it does have potent activity against a number of Gram-negative bacteria.

A number of studies have found cryptolepis active against
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
; other studies have found it ineffective. A balanced review of the journal papers, in my opinion, indicates that it is active against
Pseudomonas.
Examination of the studies does not give an easy clue as to the discrepancy in findings, but preparation differences seem to be involved.