A recent study has established the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of four plants consumed by wild lowland gorillas in western Gabon as part of self-medication behaviors. These plants could represent a serious avenue for new treatments to explore in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
Antimicrobial resistance (antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, antiparasitics) is a global public health problem that WHO ranks among the 10 greatest health threats we face.
Yet, the development of new antimicrobials has not seen significant progress for years. According to Dr. Leresche Even Doneilly Oyaba Yinda, from the Interdisciplinary Center for Medical Research in Franceville, Gabon, zoopharmacognosy (or the study of self-medication behaviors in animals) represents a promising alternative approach to finding new antimicrobial treatments (including against antibiotic resistance).
And for good reason, he and his colleagues published on September 11, 2024 in the journal Pnas the promising results of a study they conducted in three stages: first by observing wild gorillas in the Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in Gabonthen by surveying the local population, and finally by analyzing a selection of plants in the laboratory.
Gorillas are fans of herbal medicine
Since the observed gorillas are essentially frugivorous, their regular consumption of the bark of certain plants attracted the attention of the researchers. In addition, they noticed that these gorillas did not present infectious symptoms while they host potentially pathogenic enterobacteria, multiresistant to known antimicrobials, such as Escherichia coli multi-drug resistant (also called “MDR E. coli” for “Multi Drug Resistant”).
The researchers then hypothesized that this was a form of self-medication and that the plants selected by the gorillas had antimicrobial properties.
Self-medication in animals, and in particular great apes, is well known and has been observed for some years, notably in orangutans, white-handed gibbons and chimpanzees.
A traditional medicine[…]
- sciencesetavenir.fr
