Scientists believe that gorillas could offer insights into future drug discoveries through their self-medicating behaviour, according to a new study. Four potentially medicinal tropical plants that are used by local healers have been found by researchers in Gabon through their investigation of the plants that wild gorillas eat. These plants are abundant in antioxidants and antimicrobials, and one of them may be able to fight superbugs according to laboratory experiments.

The study was conducted by Leresche Even Doneilly Oyaba Yinda from the Interdisciplinary Medical Research Centre of Franceville in Gabon and colleagues, and it was published on September 11 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

As per a release, to investigate, researchers observed the behaviour of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla) in Moukalaba-Doudou National Park in Gabon and recorded the plants they ate. Next, they interviewed 27 people living in the nearby village of Doussala, including traditional healers and herbalists, about the plants that were used in local traditional medicine.

The team identified four native plant species that are both consumed by gorillas and used in traditional medicine: the fromager tree (Ceiba pentandra), giant yellow mulberry (Myrianthus arboreus), African teak (Milicia excelsa), and fig trees (Ficus). They tested bark samples of each plant for antibacterial and antioxidant properties and investigated their chemical composition.

The researchers found that the bark of all four plants had antibacterial activity against at least one multidrug-resistant strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli. The fromager tree showed “remarkable activity” against all tested E coli strains. All four plants contained compounds that have medicinal effects, including phenols, alkaloids, flavonoids, and proanthocyanidins. However, it’s not clear if gorillas consume these plants for medicinal or other reasons.

Biodiverse regions, such as central Africa, are home to a huge reservoir of unexplored and potentially medicinal plants.

This research provides preliminary insights about plants with antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, and the four plants investigated in this study might be promising targets for further drug discovery research, particularly with the aim of treating multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.

The authors of the study add: “Alternative medicines and therapies offer definite hope for the resolution of many present and future public health problems. Zoopharmacognosy is one of these new approaches, aimed at discovering new drugs.”