Pharmacological Potential of the Hyacinthaceae: Developing Homoisoflavonoids as a Treatment for Macular Degeneration

The Hyacinthaceae is one of the most important plant groups from a phytochemical, pharmacological, horticultural and ethnobotanical perspective. From a taxonomic perspective, this is one of the most hotly debated groups, with taxonomists currently in some dispute about relationships within the group.  From causing stock deaths and being used as a homicide agent, to being used as anti-inflammatories, the constituents of the Hyacinthaceae are of great interest. Homoisoflavonoids, extracted from the Hyacinthaceae have been shown to have excellent potential for treating inflammation and for treating vision loss caused by abnormal blood vessel growth in conditions such as blindness in premature babies, diabetic retinopathy, wet AMD and neovascular glaucoma.  These are debilitating condition affecting ageing populations. AMD is the major cause of visual impairment worldwide in people aged over 65. By 2020 it was estimated that as many as 200 million people globally had AMD. It affects almost four times the number of people than those who are diagnosed with cancer annually. About 20 million of these patients have the rapidly blinding, neovascular or “wet” form of AMD. Existing wet AMD drugs do not work in all patients, have side effects, are expensive, and must be injected directly into the eye.

As they are small molecules, they have the potential for formulation as eye drops, avoiding some of the shortcomings of existing therapies. As many Hyacinthaceae species are endangered in the wild, synthetic methodology must be developed and compound libraries made to understand structure-activity relationships and determine the most active and specific lead compounds.

The purpose of the workshop is to bring together experts in related fields: natural products and synthetic chemists, botanists, pharmacologists, computer modelers and clinical practitioners to accelerate this study. It will bring together existing collaborators and new potential collaborators to get the most promising compounds to the clinical trial stage as quickly as possible.

ORGANISERS

Professor Dulcie Mulholland, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Surrey

Dr Moses Langat, Jodrell Laboratory, Kew Gardens

Dr Sianne Schwikkard, Department of Chemistry, Kingston University

Dr Linda Langat, Research Associate, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Surrey

Elisha Griffin, PhD Student, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Surrey

Hannah Jefford, PhD Student, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Surrey

Photo by Professor Neil Crouch