An International Cooperative Biodiversity Group (ICBG) program based at the University of Illinois at Chicago initiated its activities in 1998, with the following specific objectives: (a) inventory and conservation of of plants of Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam and of medicinal plants of Laos; (b) drug discovery (and development) based on plants of Vietnam and Laos; and (c) economic development of communities participating in the ICBG project both in Vietnam and Laos. Member-institutions and an industrial partner of this ICBG are bound by a Memorandum of Agreement that recognizes property and intellectual property rights, prior informed consent for access to genetic resources and to indigenous knowledge, the sharing of benefits that may arise from the drug discovery effort, and the provision of short-term and long-term benefits to host country institutions and communities. The drug discovery effort is targeted to the search for agents for therapies against malaria (antimalarial assay of plant extracts, using Plasmodium falciparum clones), AIDS (anti-HIV-l activity using HOG.R5 reporter cell line (through transactivation of the green fluorescent protein/GFP gene), cancer (screening of plant extracts in 6 human tumor cell lines - KB, Col-2, LU-l, LNCaP, HUVEC, hTert-RPEl), tuberculosis (screening of extracts in the microplate Alamar Blue assay against Mycobacterium tuberculosis $H_{37}Ra\;and\;H_{37}Rv),$ all performed at UIC, and CNS-related diseases (with special focus on Alzheimer's disease, pain and rheumatoid arthritis, and asthma), peformed at Glaxo Smith Kline (UK). Source plants were selected based on two approaches: biodiversity-based (plants of Cuc Phuong National Park) and ethnobotany-based (medicinal plants of Cuc Phuong National Park in Vietnam and medicinal plants of Laos). At mc, as of July, 2001, active leads had been identified in the anti-HIV, anticancer, antimalarial, and anti- TB assay, after the screening of more than 800 extracts. At least 25 biologically active compounds have been isolated, 13 of which are new with anti-HIV activity, and 3 also new with antimalarial activity. At GSK of 21 plant samples with a history of use to treat CNS-related diseases tested to date, a number showed activity against one or more of the CNS assay targets used, but no new compounds have been isolated. The results of the drug discovery effort to date indicate that tropical plant diversity of Vietnam and Laos unquestionably harbors biologically active chemical entities, which, through further research, may eventually yield candidates for drug development. Although the substantial monetary benefit of the drug discovery process (royalties) is a long way off, the UIC ICBG program provides direct and real-term benefits to host country institutions and communities.

The flavonoids kaempferol, quercetin, myrecetin, kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside and quercetrin has been isolated from the leaves of C. tamala and their structures were established by spectral analysis and direct comparison with authentic samples. This is the first report of occurrence of these compounds from C. tamala.

Inhibitory effects of the essential oils obtained from ten herbs were tested on acetaminophen-induced lipid peroxidation in the rat. The oil of Artemisia princeps var. orientalis buds (AP-oil) showed the most significant hepatic malondialdehyde value which was comparable to those of ascorbic acid and methionine. This was warranted by the protective effect on hepatic glutathione depletion. Overview of the data on the activities of hepatic microsomal enzymes, aminopyrine N-demethylase and aniline hydroxylase led to the notice that the suppressed activities of those enzymes are mainly responsible for the anti-lipid peroxidation. The interpretation of GC-MS data on the AP-oil revealed the ingredient of cineol, thujone, carvone, borneol, camphor and terpineol.

Ten compounds were isolated from the stem barks of Acanthopanax gracilistylus WW Smith (AGS) by steam distillation, they were p-menta-1,5,8-triene, n-butyl isobutylphthalate, p-mentha-1,5-diene-8-ol, 8-hydroxy-p-cymene, myrtenol, trans-(+)-carveol, 1,3-di-tert-butylbenzene, 4-methyl-2,6-di-butylphenol, valencene and verbenone, respectively, characterized by GS-Mass spectra. And we have also extracted and isolated from the MeOH extracts of the stem barks of AGS, two compounds were obtained. On the basis of chemical and spectral evidence, they were syringin(l), ${\beta}-sitosterol(2)$.

The MeOH extract of Sorbus commixta (Rosaceae) exhibited strong DPPH radical scavenging activity, and through activity-guided fractionation two antioxidant compounds were isolated and identified as $catechin-7-O-{\beta}-D-xylopyranoside$ (1) and $catechin-7-O-\;{\beta}-D-apiofuranoside$ (2) by physicochemical and spectrometric methods. To evaluate the antioxidant effect of these compounds, some in vitro tests, such as the DPPH radical scavenging activity test, the superoxide radical scavenging activity test and the lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity test, were performed. Compounds 1 and 2 showed stronger activities than both a-tocopherol and butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA) in each assay.

From the bioassay-directed fractionation and isolation of dichloromethane fraction of Aquilaria agallocha, four compounds having MAO inhibitory effect were isolated by repeated silica gel column chromatography. Their chemical structures were established as psoralen (1), bergapten (2), ${\alpha}-amyrin\;acetate$ (3) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (4) on the basis of their physicochemical and spectral data. Among these compounds, psoralen and bergapten showed high inhibitory activities in vitro against mouse brain MAO with $IC_{50}$ values $21.3\;{\mu}M\;and\;13.8\;{\mu}M$, respectively.