REDUCTION OF MS-RELATED SCOTOMAS BY A NEW CLASS OF POTASSIUM CHANNEL BLOCKERS FROM RUTA-GRAVEOLENS

The effects of the medicinal plant rue (Ruta graveolens L.) on MS-rela ted visual-field defects was tested. In five of nine patients the scot omata were reduced by a single dose of an aqueous extract of 3 g of th e drug; the effect was reversible, appearing after only about two hour s and lasting for one to two days. There was no detectable action in f our patients. In no case were undesirable side effects observed. The p roblems associated with generalizing and evaluating both clinical find ings in MS and the efficacy of treatment are discussed. The observed a ction of Ruta graveolens is ascribed to the potassium channel blockers the plant contains. The authors have identified these substances as m ethoxy-substituted psoralens.