Extractives from woody tissues have been demonstrated to possess certain medicinal properties. One important example is taxol, a complex extractive isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew, Taxus brevifolia, that is now being used to treat ovarian cancer. As observed for taxol, semi-synthetic analogs can have better solubility in aqueous media and show greater activity. In the same manner, other extractives may be modified which hold promise as anticancer and anti-HIV agents. We have shown that a sulfated derivative of a condensed tannin monomer has moderate anti-HIV activity. Analogs of this compound are currently under investigation.
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