Hoodia gordonii

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Gentianales

Familia: Apocynaceae
Subfamilia: Asclepiadoideae
Tribus: Ceropegieae
Subtribus: Stapeliinae
Genus: Hoodia
Species: Hoodia gordonii
Name

Hoodia gordonii (Masson) Sweet ex Decne.
References

A. L. P. P. de Candolle, Prodr. 8:665. 1844
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Hoodia gordonii in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Hoodia gordonii, also known as Bushman's hat, is a leafless spiny succulent plant supposed to have therapeutic properties in folk medicine. It grows naturally in Botswana, South Africa and Namibia. The species became internationally known and threatened by collectors, after a marketing campaign falsely claimed that it was an appetite suppressant for weight loss.[1][2] The flowers smell like rotten meat and are pollinated mainly by flies. The indigenous San people of the Namib desert call this plant ǁhoba (pronounced [kǁʰɔbɑ] – the initial sound is a lateral click) – and the Afrikaans name ghaap is used to refer to all species of Hoodia.

Potential properties

The genus became internationally known and threatened by collectors, after a marketing campaign falsely claimed that it was an appetite suppressant for weight loss.[1][2] Folk medicine practitioners indigenous to Southern Africa believed the plant to be an appetite suppressant and to have other medicinal properties, such as treating indigestion and small infections.[3]

In 1977, the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) isolated the ingredient in hoodia—now known as P57—which may be responsible for its putative appetite-suppressant effect, and patented it in 1996. The CSIR then granted United Kingdom-based Phytopharm a license, and they collaborated with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to isolate active ingredients from the extracts and look into synthesizing them for use as an appetite suppressant. Pfizer released the rights to the primary ingredient in 2002. Paul Hutson, associate professor in the University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Pharmacy, told the Wisconsin State Journal, "For Pfizer to release something dealing with obesity suggests to me that they felt there was no merit to its oral use."[4] Pfizer states that development on P57, the active ingredient of hoodia, was stopped due to the difficulty of synthesizing it.[5] Jasjit Bindra, lead researcher for hoodia at Pfizer, states there were indications of unwanted effects on the liver caused by other components, which could not be easily removed from the supplement, adding, "Clearly, hoodia has a long way to go before it can earn approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Until safer formulations are developed, dieters should be wary of using it."[6]

In 2002, CSIR officially recognized the San tribespeople’s rights over hoodia, allowing them to take a percentage of the profits and any spin-offs resulting from the marketing of hoodia.[7] H. gordonii is a protected plant which may only be wild-harvested by individuals and the few companies which have been granted a license.[8]
Painting of H. gordonii by Robert Jacob Gordon
Research

According to a 2006 review, no published scientific evidence supported hoodia as an appetite suppressant in humans.[9] One review suggested that any weight loss effects from consuming hoodia dietary supplements may simply be secondary symptoms of potentially serious adverse effects that may occur from using it.[10] The United States Federal Trade Commission recommends against the use of such diet products marketed with exaggerated claims for losing body weight through the use of dietary supplements, skin patches or creams.[11]
Authentication

As H. gordonii and the whole genus Hoodia are threatened with extinction if international trade is not monitored, the genus is listed under CITES at Appendix II, and it is illegal to export plant material in any form from Africa without a CITES certificate being issued by proper authorities.

In the USA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Department of Agriculture, and United States Customs and Border Protection regulate the importation and re-exportation of species such as H. gordonii. Current U.S. laws stipulate that not only must a CITES certificate accompany shipments, but also the importers must possess a permit issued by the USDA to import terrestrial plants. A CITES re-export certificate is needed to re-export H. gordonii.

The primary testing methods for authenticating H. gordonii are:

HPTLC
HPLC
Microscopy /DPI
Direct assay of the active component, "P57"

As of 2007, four independent labs are conducting tests to verify H. gordonii in consumer products. They are: Advanced Laboratories, Inc. in Smithfield, North Carolina, Alkemist Pharmaceuticals, Chromadex Labs of Irvine, California, and the University of Mississippi. The American Herbal Products Association completed work in 2009 establishing the de facto industry standard for authentication in response to scrutiny by the Federal Trade Commission of the hoodia industry and complaints by consumers of fraudulent hoodia products being marketed.
Media coverage

The BBC reported on the H. gordonii plant in 2003.[12] On November 21, 2004, 60 Minutes aired a report on the effectiveness of the plant as a natural appetite suppressant.[13]

The media coverage and heavy marketing by nutritional supplement companies have created such a demand for Hoodia spp. plants that a protected status was imposed in several countries, such as Namibia. Many products claiming to contain Hoodia spp. do not actually contain the active ingredient alleged to suppress appetite. An ongoing review of hoodia pills by Alkemists Pharmaceuticals found at least half of the products advertised as containing hoodia contained none.[14]

In March 2006, Consumer Reports investigated the dietary supplement and concluded, "This weight loss drug lacks the clinical evidence for the Consumer Reports experts to recommend this product."[15]
Marketing and spam

Lack of scientific evidence or regulatory approvals have not stopped dietary supplement companies from marketing H. gordonii supplements with claims that it can reduce appetite and cause weight loss. Goen Technologies Corporation's TrimSpa unit began marketing it under the brand name X32 with celebrity spokesperson Anna Nicole Smith, though the FDA has notified Trimspa in a Warning Letter that it has not demonstrated that claims for their product are scientifically supportable.[16] Health Canada has not approved any hoodia products for sale.[17] However, they are sold in natural health stores. Goen Technologies was sued by the state of New Jersey for misleading consumers.[18] The Trimspa brand was the subject of a lawsuit in California, which claims it does not contain any of hoodia's active ingredient.[14]

In December 2004, Unilever entered into an agreement with Phytopharm to start marketing H. gordonii commercially in the form of shakes and diet bars, although as of April 2007, no products have yet surfaced on the consumer market from that venture.[19] In 2008 Unilever pulled out of deal with Phytopharm to continue commercial development of hoodia. A document on Unilever's website entitled "Sustainable Development 2008: An Overview", and signed by Paul Polman, CEO, contains the following statement: "Innovation also carries uncertainties and does not always lead to a positive outcome. During 2008, having invested 20 million [pounds] in R&D, Unilever abandoned plans to use the slimming extract hoodia in a range of diet products. We stopped the project because our clinical studies revealed that products using hoodia would not meet our strict standards of safety and efficacy." Page 12.

Between March and June 2006, millions of e-mail spam and forum messages were sent out concerning hoodia, ostensibly offering hoodia extracts for weight control purposes. The Federal Trade Commission logged numerous complaints of consumer fraud associated with hoodia.[14]

In October 2009, Santa Cruz County District Attorney Bob Lee joined colleagues from several other counties in a lawsuit against three companies that allegedly make false claims that their diet supplements contain extract from the African hoodia plant. The lawsuit, filed in Solano County, stated that Dex L-10 by Delmar Labs, Breakthrough Engineered Nutrition and Geopharma produce products with packaging and advertising that claim to contain H. gordonii when they contained little or none of it.[20]
References

Wendy AM Blom; Salomon L Abrahamse; Roberta Bradford; Guus SMJE Duchateau; Winfried Theis; Antonia Orsi; Caroline L Ward; David J Mela (2011). "Effects of 15-d repeated consumption of Hoodia gordonii purified extract on safety, ad libitum energy intake, and body weight in healthy, overweight women: a randomized controlled trial". American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 94 (5): 1171–1181. doi:10.3945/ajcn.111.020321. PMID 21993434.
Harriet Hall (November 8, 2011). "Weight Loss Customers Are Being Hoodia-Winked". Science-Based Medicine.
"Ralph Peckover". Flora Africa.
Rath, Jay. "New Drug Tempting Dieters, But Experts Debate Hoodia's Merits". Wisconsin State Journal, September 5, 2005, D1
Morris, Joan. "Little research behind claims that hoodia is safe, effective for losing weight". Seattle Times, March 9, 2006
Bindra, Jasjit. "A Popular Pill's Hidden Danger", The New York Times, April 26, 2005
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (24 March 2003) The San and the CSIR announce a benefit-sharing agreement for potential anti-obesity drug. Archived 2007-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
Thompson, Ginger (April 1, 2003). "Twee Rivieren Journal; Bushmen Squeeze Money From a Humble Cactus". The New York Times.
Kathleen Doheney, "Hoodia: Lots of Hoopla, Little Science; Few studies support the promise of the South African appetite suppressant, but believers abound", WebMD, September 6, 2006, Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD (last accessed March 24, 2007)
Smith, Carine; Krygsman, Annadie (2014). "Hoodia gordonii: To Eat, or Not To Eat". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 155 (2): 987–991. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2014.06.033. PMID 24955559.
Weighing the Evidence in Diet Ads, US Federal Trade Commission; July 2012
Mangold, Tom. "Sampling the Kalahari Hoodia diet". BBC Correspondent, May 30, 2003.
Stahl, Lesley. "African Plant May Help Fight Fat" Archived 2013-10-07 at the Wayback Machine. CBS News 60 Minutes, November 21, 2004.
Engelhaupt, Erika (July 9, 2006). "But do Hoodia diet pills actually work? Diet miracle from an African plant is a spam special". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
"Hoodia: lose weight without feeling hungry?" (Subscription required) Consumer Reports 2006 Mar; 71(3):49.
US Food and Drug Administration (March 26, 2004). "Warning Letter for Weight Loss Products 'TrimSpa Carb Blocker' and 'TrimSpa Fat Blocker'" Archived 2007-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
Hawaleshka, Danylo. "Hoodia love: An appetite suppressant used by Bushmen is the diet world's newest fad" Archived 2007-10-10 at the Wayback Machine. Macleans, August 3, 2005.
New Jersey Office of the Attorney General (October 16, 2003). New Jersey Sues Founder of Goen Seminars.
Tomlinson, Heather, "Prickly solution to obesity?", The Guardian Weekly, (undated).
Santa Cruz, other DAs sue manufacturers of weight loss products, Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 1, 2009