What is the difference in development of natural products as a pure, well-defined substances and as a complex extract.

Question

Any differences in determining the dose between an extract and a pure substance? Why could it differ in an extract?

Answer 1

Hi Zainab H.,

Well now. Usually any extract of a natural material (a root, bark, stem, leaf, flower, etc.) has multiple chemicals present in solution. Even when these multiple materials (actives, for short) are chemically related, they may have very different effects in the body. It may be serendipitously the case that these many actives work together, in most individuals, to cause a desired physiological effect. Then this extract becomes known popularly and in the pharmacy trade, and is an article of commerce. However there are some complications to consider: 1) the amount and balance of the actives in the extract may vary with source collection place, time of year, collection and extraction techniques. That matters, because a changed balance of level of actives may cause less of the desired effect and more of undesired effects (side effects), in patients who previously had good response to the extract; 2) most drugs are ineffective below a certain dose, effective at levels above that, and then toxic at even higher levels, also 3) not all patients respond favorably to the extract in the first place -- this is called idiosyncratic response.

So all in all, complex extracts are a crap shoot, unless the levels of significant actives are all monitored and controlled. That's tough to accomplish!

Therefore, usually a single active, or a drug developed from chemically altering the original active, is frequently manufactured in pure form, at known dosages, and marketed. The medical supervisor ( a doctor, pharmacist, or herbalist) can then treat the patient at increasingly higher dosages until the target effect manifests. An individual patient may be well-treated at that level for a considerable time, with less likelyhood of underdose or overdose than with a complex extract.

Now, all of these statements are generalities, and there are many involved specifics that sometimes arise, so that's why we have trained medical professionals involved. I should note that the different professions (doctors, pharmacists, and herbalists) frequently disagree as to the merits of simple vs. complex active mixes, etc. and that members of the general public sometimes experiment further with drug treatments on their own, with frequently disasterous effects.

-- Cheers, -- Mr. d.