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A professor of biochemistry, Olatunde Farombi says consuming bitter kola daily can help mitigate some symptoms of Parkinson’s disease such as slow movement, stiffness and loss of balance, while also preventing influenza virus infection.
Farombi, in the 23rd Ibadan College of Medicine Alumni Association (ICOMAA) Distinguished alumni lecture titled: “Biochemistry: Its contributions to Research and Development in Medicine,” stated that kolaviron, a chemical substance in bitter kola, has recently been found to have potential in progressive neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.
Symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking. They may also have mental and behavioural changes, sleep problems, depression, memory difficulties, and fatigue.
According to him, “in experimental parkinsonism, we showed that kolaviron mitigated drug-associated hyperkinesias, inefficient gait, immobility, inability to pay attention to sizable holes on walking path, habitual clockwise rotations characterised with minimal diversion of movements, motor incompetence and impaired balance as well as inflammation and expression of certain key proteins frequently seen in Parkinson patient.
“We demonstrated clearly for the very first time experimentally in vivo that kolaviron prevents influenza virus infection. This study indicates that this fraction is effective in delaying the development of clinical symptoms of influenza virus through its antioxidant and immunomodulatory properties.
“It could be explored clinically as an anti-influenza and immunomodulatory regimen especially at an early period during an influenza virus outbreak. Kolaviron and/or bitter kola holds prospects in the early prevention and management of other viral-related illnesses including COVID-19.
“This series of preclinical data on the therapeutic value of bitter kola qualifies this important seed for clinical trials and testing in various disease models such as neurodegenerative disorders, liver diseases, virus-related infections and heart diseases.
“Though a few clinical trials exist on its therapeutic value such as its effect in knee osteoarthritis and as antifungal therapy for oral candidiasis more and specific clinical translation trials should be carried out, especially with diseases supported by rigorous and sound experimental and preclinical evidence to justify its implication in translational medicine.”
Professor Farombi declared that in collaboration with three other scientists, four different substances present in kola bitter beneficial for human health have been patented, including rugulosin, demonstrated to work against that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA (bug responsible for difficult-to-treat infections in humans) and prevent replication of HIV.
Prevention of HIV, like rugulosin does is being touted as one of the most promising new drug strategies for anti-retroviral therapy, with potentially significant advantages over existing therapies.
Digitoxin, another of its constituents patented can be used in the management of all kinds of abnormal heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation (an irregular, often rapid heart rate that commonly causes poor blood flow) and atrial tachycardia(a condition in which the heart beats too fast).
Professor Farombi, who noted that knowledge of biochemistry is essential to all life sciences because all diseases have a biochemical basis, stated that in an attempt to curb the rising costs of medical care, more emphasis should be placed on preventive medicine.
Given the relevance of biochemistry to medicine and allied medical sciences, he called for increased collaboration with biochemists to enhance the translation of preclinical findings to clinical practice.
He said this had become imperative because biochemistry’s contribution to biomedical sciences and medicine is huge and continues to be the future of molecular medicine to chat a better course and trajectory for diagnosis, treatment and maintenance of myriads of diseases that bedevil humanity.
President ICOMAA worldwide, Professor Emmanuel Otolorin, stating that the week was a homecoming for alumna at the college said funding from the government for tertiary education is not enough and cannot be enough and it is usually supported by the institution’s alumni and research grants
According to him, alumni of tertiary institutions need to negotiate with the government on how to have an increased role in how universities are managed to ensure continuous years of learning and prevent decay in infrastructure and brain drain.
Chairman on the occasion, Professor Olaitan Soyannwo declared that the success of any school can be measured by the contributions the alumni make to its national life, saying the homecoming of the alumni was laudable, particularly amid the exodus of health professionals to other countries as a result of situations experienced in Nigeria.
Earlier, Provost of the College of Medicine, Professor Yinka Omigbodun said alumni were the pillar of the college as it is becoming more difficult for public tertiary institutions to keep abreast with those in the private sector due to many challenges including bureaucracy in governance and difficulty in assessing research grants placed in the government treasury.
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