Devil's Claw

Since their existence, supplements have been a savior for people. Whether he or she is lacking something, wants to enhance their life, or simply feel complete, supplements are often taken to fill these needs. The need to use them could either be internal or as advice from a physician. The availability of supplements is nearly endless. Barring the more serious pathologies from the list, most pathologies or issues can be helped with supplements. The use is not intended to overall cure; however, the use is simply as a means to help the problem or to prevent anything serious from occurring. Devil’s Claw is not a much known supplement; nonetheless, the use of it is beneficial. The pharmacology behind this supplement is at times broad and at time

The U.S. National Library of Medicine states, “Devil’s Claw is an herb. The botanical name, Harpagophytum, means “hook plant” in Greek. This plant, which is native to Africa, gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, which is covered with hooks meant to attach onto animals in order to spread the seeds. The roots and tubers of the plant are used to make medicine.” (site) The name of the supplement fits both the botanical name and the way in which its seeds are spread. The uses are abundant as Devil’s Claw can help with myalgia, back pain, tendonitis, chest pain, heartburn, fever, migraines, atherosclerosis, arthritis, tendonitis, gout, as well as, it can also be used for difficulties in childbirth, loss of appetite, allergic reactions, menstrual problems and kidney and bladder disease. While these are affected when taking the supplement orally, when using it in a topical sense, it can be used for skin injuries and conditions. Overall, the main use is for back pain and osteoarthritis, even though researchers don’t fully believe it helps osteoarthritis

By definition, this is the study of factors that affect the time course of drug events. Devil’s Claw mainly consists of active chemical constituents, primarily iridoid glycosides. This supplement is in the category of administration as the effects and usage doesn’t last longer than 24 hours. When administered in 20mg/kg doses, it has been known to produce an analgesia affect. Some research also states that these doses can work as an anti-inflammatory affect. This possibility is due to the fact that in the few studies that showed these results, the iridoid glycosides affected the release of prostaglandin of the COX-2 Pathway. Overall, the results were inconclusive. Other additional molecular mechanisms of action that consist with this are the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. While the latter three have been shown, the overall main mechanism of action is the chemical reactions of the iridoid glycosides that produce the analgesic affect.

When differentiating Devil’s Claw among other supplements, the half-life is often described as ~5.6 hours. When using this, it has been known to cause iridoid glucosides by human fecal flora transformation (site). Specifically for pharmacodynamics, the goal is to observe drug absorption, distribution, and