Hyraceum, the fossilized metabolic product of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), shows GABA-benzodiazepine receptor affinity

Olsen, Andreas; Prinsloo, Linda Charlotta; Scott, Louis; Jager, Anna K.

dc.contributor.author	Olsen, Andreas
dc.contributor.author	Prinsloo, Linda Charlotta
dc.contributor.author	Scott, Louis
dc.contributor.author	Jager, Anna K.
dc.date.accessioned	2008-06-04T11:43:59Z
dc.date.available	2008-06-04T11:43:59Z
dc.date.issued	2007-11
dc.description.sponsorship	Hyraceum, an accretion of urine and dung of rock hyraxes (also known as rock dassies), when fossilized with age, has been used in South Africa for the traditional treatment of epilepsy.We report on tests of 14 hyraceum samples, collected at various geographical locations in South Africa, and assayed for GABA-benzodiazepine receptor affinity. Ethanolic extracts of four of the hyraceum samples assayed positive, whereas all aqueous extracts were inactive. Qualitative TLC resolution of the ethanolic extracts shows a complex mixture of constituents, with no feature being a distinguishing pattern for all four active samples. These preliminary results are not in conflict with the traditional use of hyraceum as a treatment for epilepsy by the settlers of Gamkaskloof.	en
dc.format.extent	933307 bytes
dc.format.mimetype	application/pdf
dc.identifier.citation	Olsen, A, Prinsloo, LC, Scott, L & Jäger, K 2007, 'Hyraceum, the fossilized metabolic product of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), shows GABA-benzodiazepine receptor affinity', South African Journal of Science, vol. 103, no. 11-12, pp. 437-438. [http://www.sajs.co.za/]	en
dc.identifier.issn	0038-2353
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/2263/5788
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.publisher	Academy of Science of South Africa	en
dc.rights	Academy of Science of South Africa	en
dc.subject	Hyraceum	en
dc.subject	Rock hyraxes	en
dc.subject	GABA-benzodiazepine receptor affinity	en
dc.subject.lcsh	Hyraxes
dc.subject.lcsh	Hyracoidea, Fossil
dc.subject.lcsh	Traditional medicine -- South Africa
dc.subject.lcsh	Epilepsy
dc.title	Hyraceum, the fossilized metabolic product of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), shows GABA-benzodiazepine receptor affinity	en
dc.type	Article	en