ABSTRACT NARRATIVE Description: This project supports the scientific cooperation of Dr. Maurice Shamma of the Department of Chemistry of Pennsylvania State University and Dr. Tekant Gozler and Dr. (Mrs) Belkis Gozler of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Ege University, (University of the Aegean), Izmir, Turkey. The research is to be a continuation of on going research entitled "Alkaloids for Turkish Plants". The research objectives are to isolate and characterize new and unusual natural products, particularly alkaloids, from plant sources. New compounds obtained will be screened for pharmacological activity, if obtained in sufficiently large quantities. Additionally, the novel natural products isolated may furnish new insights into the biogenetic processes occurring in plants. Turkish plants to be investigated are Colchicum szovitskii and several members of the _________ __________ Asclepiadaceae family. The impetus for this research is the recent report (N.Y. Times, Nov. 1, 1987, p. 33) that colchicine itself has significantly extended the lives of cirrhosis victims and has even reversed the damage that cirrhosis does to the liver, and secondly, there is little current research on new Colchicum alkaloids in the U.S. _________ Scope: This project is designed to have the Turkish _____ collaborators identify and gather the natural plants in Turkey. They then extract, purify, identify and test the chemical compounds obtained. The research data and samples are sent to the U.S. principal investigator for further analysis. The Turkish scientists participate with their U.S. counterpart at Penn State University in this advanced testing and data compilation. The advancement of the international exchange of scientific knowledge and the training and use of developing countries scientists fulfills a major objective of the Science in Developing Countries Program.
