Pharmacopsychiatry 2003; 36: 95-99
DOI: 10.1055/s-2003-40457
Original Paper
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Effect of Ginkgo biloba (EGb 761®) on Differential Gene Expression

G. Rimbach1 , S. Wolffram2 , C. Watanabe3 , L. Packer4 , K. Gohil5
  • 1Hugh Sinclair Human Nutrition Unit, University of Reading, UK
  • 2Institute of Animal Nutrition, Physiology and Metabolism, Christian-Albrechts-University, Kiel, Germany
  • 3Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
  • 4Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
  • 5Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, USA
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
07 July 2003 (online)

Supplementation of diets with plant extracts such as ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761®) (definition see editorial) for health and prevention of degenerative diseases is popular. However, it is often difficult to analyse the biological activities of plant extracts due to their complex nature and the possible synergistic and/or antagonistic effects of their components. Genome-wide expression monitoring with high-density oligonucleotide arrays provides one way to examine the molecular targets of plant extracts and may prove a useful tool in evaluating their therapeutic claims. Here, we will briefly describe some of our work on the effect of EGb 761® on differential gene expression in relation to its potential anti-carcinogenic, photoprotective and neuromodulatory properties.

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Dr. Gerald Rimbach

Hugh Sinclair Human Nutrition Unit

School of Food Biosciences

University of Reading

PO Box 226

Reading, RG6 6AP

United Kingdom

Phone: +44 (118) 931 6463

Fax: +44 (118) 931 0080

Email: g.h.rimbach@reading.ac.uk