UMR 152 PharmaDev, Université de Toulouse, IRD, UPS, France; Maison des Sciences de l'Homme du Pacifique (USR 2003), Université de la Polynésie Française/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
Consultant en foresterie et botanique polynésienne, Tahiti, French Polynesia.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2022 Jun 28;292:115186. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2022.115186. Epub 2022 Mar 12.
In French Polynesia, many pathologies common or endemic to the territory cause diarrhea. This is the case for rotavirus gastroenteritis, salmonella food poisoning, ingestion of water contaminated by bacteria, and ciguatera. To treat these ailments, the population may employ traditional medicine for cultural reasons, geographical isolation, and poor health coverage. Polynesian remedies are often used without medical consultation and there is no data on their benefit-risk balance. A few ethnobotanical studies have been carried out in order to identify the traditional remedies used for various ailments, but few studies have focused on gastrointestinal pathologies. In this context, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out to identify treatments used for diarrhea and ciguatera, inventory the plants used, better understand the local representation of these remedies, and provide efficacy and safety data on these uses.
From February to April 2021, a semi-structured survey was conducted on six islands in French Polynesia, including one island in the Windward Islands archipelago (Tahiti), three islands in the Marquesas archipelago (Hiva Oa, Nuku Hiva, Tahuata), and two islands in the Leeward Islands archipelago (Raiatea, Tahaa). A total of 133 people was interviewed including 34 specialists (of which 29 experts in herbalism).
These people mentioned the use of 27 plants for the treatment of diarrhea, and 24 for the treatment of ciguatera. Citrus aurantiifolia, Psidium guajava and Cordyline fruticosa were the three most cited plant species used for treating diarrhea, while Cocos nucifera, Punica granatum and Barringtonia asiatica were the most cited for ciguatera. A large majority of plants are widespread and introduced plants, which is congruent with the history of Polynesian people. While some plants are well known for similar uses (e.g. Psidium guajava for diarrhea, Heliotropium arboreum for ciguatera), others are less well known and may present toxicity risks (e.g. Barringtonia asiatica for ciguatera).
Traditional Polynesian medicine is an integral part of the local culture so important to be preserved and valued. However, more pharmacological and toxicological studies are still needed to determine the benefit-risk balance of some of these remedies and to allow their official integration into the Polynesian health system.
在法属波利尼西亚，许多常见或地方性的疾病都会导致腹泻。轮状病毒肠胃炎、沙门氏菌食物中毒、细菌污染水的摄入和雪卡鱼中毒都是这种情况。出于文化、地理隔离和医疗保健覆盖范围不佳等原因，当地居民可能会使用传统医学来治疗这些疾病。波利尼西亚的补救措施经常在未经医疗咨询的情况下使用，而且没有关于它们的利弊平衡的数据。为了确定用于各种疾病的传统补救措施，已经进行了一些民族植物学研究，但很少有研究关注胃肠道疾病。在这种情况下，进行了民族植物学调查，以确定用于腹泻和雪卡鱼中毒的治疗方法，清点使用的植物，更好地了解这些补救措施在当地的代表性，并提供这些用途的疗效和安全性数据。
2021 年 2 月至 4 月，在法属波利尼西亚的六个岛屿上进行了半结构式调查，包括迎风群岛（塔希提岛）的一个岛屿、马克萨斯群岛（奥阿胡岛、努库希瓦岛、塔胡阿岛）的三个岛屿和背风群岛（赖阿特阿岛、塔哈岛）的两个岛屿。共有 133 人接受了采访，其中包括 34 名专家（其中 29 名草药专家）。
这些人提到了 27 种植物用于治疗腹泻，24 种植物用于治疗雪卡鱼中毒。酸橙、番石榴和琴叶珊瑚是治疗腹泻最常被提到的三种植物，而椰子、石榴和亚洲滨柃则是治疗雪卡鱼中毒最常被提到的三种植物。大多数植物都是分布广泛和引入的植物，这与波利尼西亚人的历史是一致的。虽然一些植物因类似用途而广为人知（例如，番石榴用于腹泻，黄杨用于雪卡鱼中毒），但其他植物则不太为人所知，可能存在毒性风险（例如，亚洲滨柃用于雪卡鱼中毒）。
传统的波利尼西亚医学是当地文化的一个组成部分，因此非常重要，需要加以保护和重视。然而，仍然需要更多的药理学和毒理学研究来确定其中一些补救措施的利弊平衡，并允许它们正式纳入波利尼西亚卫生系统。
