METHODS IN ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY

A variety of pharmacological models are utilized in the evaluation of ethnomedicine. Most investigations are focused on developing new leads for therapeutic agents. However, there should be more efforts focused on the development of ethnomedicines because of their accessibility a nd acceptability in areas where modem medicine is not readily availabl e. Testing methods to identify the active agents must be carefully sel ected utilizing information from ethnoanthropology, ethnobotany, phyto chemistry, toxicology and pharmacology. New pharmacological models foc used on cellular and molecular mechanisms can be used for ethnomedical evaluations but with great caution since they are based on known mech anisms of actions and limited by knowledge of the disease state.