Immunopharmacology of Prebiotics and Probiotics

The medicinal properties of various nutritional components have been appreciated since ancient times. Hippocrates (460–377 B. C.), for example, stated: “Let medicine be thy food and food be thy medicine. ” Tea brewed from various fruits, shrubs, and trees containing natural salicylates has been consumed for pain relief since the Stone Age. Also the origin of the most well-known painkiller found in almost every home—aspirin—is a willow bark tree extract (see Chap. 33). These examples illustrate how nature can provide the chemical structure for a pharmaceutical. It is now appreciated that 70% of current drugs have their origin in chemical compounds found in plants, fruits, and vegetables. Modern medicinal chemists are capable of isolating and identifying these active chemical compounds and then modifying them to yield compounds with increased activity and less side effects.