{"id":382376,"date":"2021-02-19T11:56:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T14:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=382376"},"modified":"2021-02-19T11:56:31","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T14:56:31","slug":"the-pharmacy-of-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/the-pharmacy-of-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"The pharmacy of plants"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 90, psychopharmacologist Elisaldo Carlini seemed far from done after a lifetime of research, teaching, and socially minded activities. He was in the middle of planning a study on the effect of cannabinoids\u2014Cannabis sativa<\/em>, or marijuana, compounds\u2014for treating epilepsy. In November 2019, he spoke at the symposium \u201cTherapeutic Cannabis in Brazil: Hits and Misses,\u201d organized by the Brazilian Center of Information on Psychotropic Drugs (CEBRID), where he was scientific director. Founded by Carlini himself and by the Cultive Association, CEBRID instructs families on how to obtain medicine and extract oil from the plant. He still had the dream of establishing a graduate program in herbal medicine at the Diadema campus at the Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP). Over the last few months, however, he had a hard time concentrating, shares biochemical pharmacist Solange Nappo, a professor at UNIFESP and Carlini\u2019s wife of 30 years. \u201cBeing unable to continue to do science took away the meaning of life for him,\u201d she laments. He died on September 16, from cancer. \u201cThose of us he left behind now have the responsibility to do our best to honor his legacy,\u201d reflects neuroscientist Luiz Eug\u00eanio Mello, FAPESP scientific director.<\/p>\n

Born in Ribeir\u00e3o Preto, in the state of S\u00e3o Paulo, Carlini started his career at the S\u00e3o Paulo School of Medicine, now part of the Federal University of S\u00e3o Paulo (UNIFESP), where he became a professor in 1970 and founded the Department of Psychopharmacology. \u201cPsychopharmacology can be defined as the pharmacology of the soul,\u201d explains Mello. He believes it is easy to get lost in this barely palpable area, but that never happened with Carlini\u2014thanks to his solid pharmacology foundation.<\/p>\n

In this context, he was a pioneer in studying the active ingredients of marijuana and showed that cannabidiol (CBD)\u2014one such compound\u2014has its own pharmacological effects independent of the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), responsible for the psychoactive effects. The work of the UNIFESP group complemented that of Israeli biochemist Raphael Mechoulam, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with whom Carlini collaborated.<\/p>\n

“Together, we explored the use of cannabinoids for epilepsy, for which there were positive indications for centuries,” shared Mechoulam over email. “In the 1970s, we extracted and purified CBD from hashish supplied by the Israeli police and I sent nearly 400 grams of crystalline CBD to Carlini, who began the first studies on animal models and then on epileptic patients, with extraordinary results.” The drugs that were around at the time were ineffective, and even today some types of epilepsy are resistant to conventional medication. \u201cToday, CBD is an approved drug for certain types of epilepsy in children. If Carlini’s work had been accepted sooner, thousands of patients, especially children, could have been helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was innovative, non-conforming, unrelenting,\u201d defines biologist Eliana Rodrigues. “He was also inspiring.” Rodrigues had been working with him for 22 years, since her PhD, when she began a study on medicinal plants used by the Krah\u00f4 indigenous people, in the state of Tocantins. The goal was to make medicine from the active ingredients of these plants, with help from the pharmaceutical company Ach\u00e9 and funding from FAPESP, generating patents that would benefit the indigenous people. Carlini took representatives from the Krah\u00f4 to speak with physicist Jos\u00e9 Fernando Perez, then scientific director of FAPESP, and to the management of Ach\u00e9. But the project was cancelled due to disagreements between Krah\u00f4 associates and accusations of biopiracy. \u201cIt was a loss for all involved,\u201d concludes Rodrigues. But Carlini did not give up: the use of plants by indigenous communities\u2014or ethnopharmacology\u2014continued to be of great interest to him. \u201cAdversity only encouraged him further,\u201d she shares.<\/p>\n

He paved the way in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology and helped create policies for the regulation of drugs and narcotics in Brazil<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Carlini helped pave the way in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology in Brazil, according to pharmacologist Jo\u00e3o Calixto, from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC). \u201cIn 1968, when he organized the 1st<\/sup> Symposium on Medicinal Plants in Brazil, fewer than 20 papers were presented,\u201d he says. It later became a recurring event, taking place every two years. \u201cIn 2018, even though he was in a wheelchair, he hosted the 25th<\/sup> edition of the event, in S\u00e3o Paulo. It was the 50th <\/sup>anniversary of the symposium, with over a thousand abstracts of studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calixto emphasizes Carlini\u2019s impact on drug and narcotics regulation policy in the country. In the 1990s, the psychopharmacologist took the role of Brazilian Secretary of Health Surveillance, with the Ministry of Health, and asked a colleague from UFSC to coordinate the Commission for the Regulation and Registration of Medicines. Later, Carlini promoted the establishment of the Brazilian Health Regulatory Agency (ANVISA), based on the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “Today, ANVISA is a national agency with its own headquarters and a large staff,” says Calixto.<\/p>\n

The Santa Catarina researcher also highlights the importance of Carlini in human resources training. \u201cHe trained and sent throughout Brazil a large number of people, which helped originate our group here at UFSC,\u201d he reveals. Carlini was considered by colleagues and students to be an inspired teacher\u2014and not just because he spoke of drugs without prejudice. \u201cHe always gave us the historical and sociological contexts; it was amazing,\u201d recalls Mello. “He was an unapologetic mind opener.”<\/p>\n

According to the neuroscientist, one of Carlini\u2019s essential characteristics was his ability to work on many different topics with the same amount of passion, without restricting himself. \u201cHe passionately defended the data and conclusions of his work. He passionately defended the return of democracy. He was always ardently looking for ways to make his work relevant,\u201d describes Mello. \u201cHis approach included sociology and anthropology, as well as pharmacology and psychiatry. All without letting his political vision\u2014he was a member of the Workers Party ethics council, decades ago\u2014influence his teaching or scientific work.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, Carlini was hospitalized several times, spending nearly half the year in hospital. He managed his cancer pain using cannabis oil, provided by his collaborators. \u201cAfter he was discharged from hospital, he went straight back to work; that was what motivated him,\u201d says neuroscientist Renato Filev, a postdoctoral researcher with CEBRID. Filev believes the COVID-19 pandemic had the cruel effect of driving Carlini away from what he loved.<\/p>\n

“He was intense in the smallest of things, even when eating,” recalls Nappo. She now has an important mission. “I promised him that I would make sure CEBRID moves forward.” Because it was personified by Carlini, there was a perception that it could cease to exist without its founder. In the institutional sphere, in recent years Carlini worked in the small laboratory provided by Eliana Rodrigues in the Diadema campus of UNIFESP, still in the process of being established. While temporarily working in a container, the researcher added flower boxes to liven up the front of the laboratory. He needed to make it a pleasant place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Elisaldo Carlini, a pioneer in the study of medicinal plants and cannabis compounds, dies at 90 years of age","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":382062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1348],"tags":[213,232],"coauthors":[1601],"class_list":["post-382376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituary","tag-botany","tag-pharmacology"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":382377,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382376\/revisions\/382377"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382376"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=382376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}