Animals self-medicate using a variety of plant and arthropod secondary metabolites by either ingesting them or anointing them to their fur or skin apparently to repel ectoparasites and treat skin diseases. In this respect, much attention has been focused on primates. Direct evidence for self-medication among the great apes has been limited to Africa. Here we document self-medication in the only Asian great ape, orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus), and for the first time, to our knowledge, the external application of an anti-inflammatory agent in animals. The use of leaf extracts from Dracaena cantleyi by orang-utan has been observed on several occasions; rubbing a foamy mixture of saliva and leaf onto specific parts of the body. Interestingly, the local indigenous human population also use a poultice of these leaves for the relief of body pains. We present pharmacological analyses of the leaf extracts from this species, showing that they inhibit TNFα-induced inflammatory cytokine production (E-selectin, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and IL-6). This validates the topical anti-inflammatory properties of this plant and provides a possible function for its use by orang-utans. This is the first evidence for the deliberate external application of substances with demonstrated bioactive potential for self-medication in great apes.

Centre for Ecology and Conservation College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Exeter Penryn Campus Penryn Cornwall TR10 9FE United Kingdom

Department of Botany and Zoology Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 611 37 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Chemical Biology and Genetics and Laboratory of Growth Regulators Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research Faculty of Science Palacký University and Institute of Experimental Botany Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic 78371 Olomouc Holice Czech Republic

Department of Parasitology Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta Indonesia

Department of Vascular Biology and Thrombosis Research Medical University of Vienna A 1090 Vienna Austria

Foundation UMI Saving of Pongidae Brno Czech Republic

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Richmond Surrey UK

The Centre for International Cooperation in Sustainable Management of Tropical Peatlands University of Palangka Raya Central Kalimantan Indonesia

The Orang utan Tropical Peatland Project Palangkaraya Central Kalimantan Indonesia

Zobrazit více v PubMed

de Roode JC, Thierry L, Mark DH. Self-medication in animals. Science. 2013;340(6129):150–151. doi: 10.1126/science.1235824. PubMed DOI

Abbott J. Self-medication in insects: current evidence and future perspective. Ecol. Entomol. 2014;39:273–280. doi: 10.1111/een.12110. DOI

Gherman BI, et al. Pathogen-associated self-medication behavior in the honeybee Apis mellifera. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 2014;68:1777–1784. doi: 10.1007/s00265-014-1786-8. DOI

Janzen, D.H. Complications in interpreting the chemical defenses of trees against arboreal plant-eating vertebrates in

Clark, C. C. & Clark Li, C. L. “Anting” behavior by common grackles and European starlings. The Wilson Bulletin. 167–169 (1990).

Baker M. Fur rubbing: Use of medicinal plants by capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) Am. J. Primatology. 1996;38:263–270. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1098-2345(1996)38:3<263::AID-AJP5>3.0.CO;2-X. DOI

Huffman MA. Current evidence for self-medication in primates: a multidisciplinary perspective. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 1997;104:171–200. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(1997)25+<171::AID-AJPA7>3.0.CO;2-7. DOI

Birkinshaw CR. Use of millipedes by black lemurs to anoint their bodies. Folia Primatol. 1999;70:170–171. doi: 10.1159/000021691. PubMed DOI

Dejoseph M, et al. Fur-rubbing behaviour of capuchin monkeys. J. Academic Dermatol. 2002;46:924–925. doi: 10.1067/mjd.2002.119668. PubMed DOI

Huffman MA, Seifu M. Observations on the illness and consumption of a possible medicinal plant Vernonia amygdalina (Del), by chimpanzees in the Mahale Mountains National Park, Tanzania. Primates. 1989;30:51. doi: 10.1007/BF02381210. DOI

Huffman MA, et al. Leaf-swallowing by chimpanzees, a behavioural adaptation for the control of strongyloide nematode infections. Int. J. Primatology. 1996;72:475–503. doi: 10.1007/BF02735188. DOI

Huffman MA. Self-medicative behaviour in the African great apes: an evolutionary perspective into the origins of human traditional medicine. Bio Science. 2001;51:651–661.

Huffman MA, Hirata S. An experimental study of leaf swallowing in captive chimpanzees: insight into the origin of self-medicative behaviour and the role of social learning. Primates. 2004;45:113–118. doi: 10.1007/s10329-003-0065-5. PubMed DOI

Fruth, et al. New Evidence for Self-Medication in Bonobos: Manniophyton fulvum Leaf- and Stremstrip - Swallowing from Luikotale, Salonga National Park, DR Congo. Am. J. Primatology. 2014;76:146–158. doi: 10.1002/ajp.22217. PubMed DOI

Fowler A, Koutsioni Y, Sommer V. Leaf-swallowing in Nigerian chimpanzees: evidence for assumed self-medication. Primates. 2007;48:73–76. doi: 10.1007/s10329-006-0001-6. PubMed DOI

Barelli C, Huffman MA. Leaf swallowing and parasite expulsion in Khao Yai white-handed gibbons (Hylobates lar), the first report in an Asian ape species. Am. J. Primatology. 2017;79:1–7. doi: 10.1002/ajp.22610. PubMed DOI

Foitová, I. Parasites in orangutans (

Foitová, I., Jarkovský, J., Dušek, L. & Koptíková, J. Relationship between plant prevalence in the orangutan diet and their coincidence with parasite presence. Report to Foundation UMI-Saving of Pongidae (2006).

Morrogh-Bernard HC. “Fur-rubbing as a form of self-medication in Pongo pygmaeus. Int. J. Primatol. 2008;29(4):1059–1064. doi: 10.1007/s10764-008-9266-5. DOI

Huffman M. A. Primates Self-Medication in

Westergaard D, Fragaszy D. Self treatment of wounds by a capuchin monkey (Cebus apella) Human Evol. 1987;1:557–562. doi: 10.1007/BF02437429. DOI

Lazano GL. Parasitic stress and self-medication in wild animals. Advances in the Study of Behaviour. 1998;27:291–317. doi: 10.1016/S0065-3454(08)60367-8. DOI

Verderane MP, et al. Anting in semi free-ranging group of Cebus apella. Int. J. Primatol. 2007;28(1):47–53. doi: 10.1007/s10764-006-9102-8. DOI

Dahlgren, R. M. T. & Clifford, H. T.

Borin MR, de MB, Gottlieb OR. Steroids, taxonomic markers? Plant Systematics & Evolution. 1993;184:41–76. doi: 10.1007/BF00937778. DOI

Gupta D, Bleakley B, Gupta RK. Dragon’s blood: Botany, chemistry and therapeutic uses. J Ethnopharmacol. 2008;115:361–380. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2007.10.018. PubMed DOI

Yokosuka A, Mimaki Y, Sashida Y. Steroidal Saponins from Dracaena surculosa. J Nat Prod. 2000;63:1239–1243. doi: 10.1021/np000145j. PubMed DOI

Kougan GB, et al. Steroidal Saponins from two species of Dracaena. J Nat Prod. 2010;73:1266–1270. doi: 10.1021/np100153m. PubMed DOI

Liu H, et al. Evaluation of the wound healing potential of Resina draconis (Dracaena cochinchinensis) in animal models. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2013 PubMed PMC

Tapondjou LA, et al. In vivo anti-inflammatory effect of a new steroidal saponin, mannioside A, and its derivatives isolated from Dracaena mannii. Archives of Pharmacal Research. 2008;31:653–658. doi: 10.1007/s12272-001-1208-3. PubMed DOI

Moharram FA, El-Shenawy SM. Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory steroidal saponins from Dracaena ombet. Planta Medica. 2007;73:1101–6. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-981565. PubMed DOI

Huffman, M. A. Animals as a source of medicinal wisdom in indigenous societies in

Madlener S, et al. In vitro anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of extracts of Acalypha alopecuroidea (Euphorbiaceae) Int J Oncol. 2009;35:881–891. PubMed

Effect of selected Indonesian plants on Giardia intestinalis in an experimental in vitro model

Novel alkylaminoethyl derivatives of androstane 3-oximes as anticancer candidates: synthesis and evaluation of cytotoxic effects

Bioactive Steroids from the Red Sea Soft Coral Sinularia polydactyla