The University of Pretoria (UP) is advancing research into how plant-derived medicines could help address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases across Africa.

Professor Trevor Nyakudya, from UP’s Department of Physiology, has called for scientifically validated phytomedicine to become part of future healthcare strategies.

Phytomedicine involves the scientific study of compounds derived from plants and their potential use in supporting health and treating disease.

Nyakudya made the call during his inaugural professorial lecture, titled Phytomedicine and Metabolic Health: Towards Integrative Solutions for a Global Crisis.

During the lecture, he presented more than a decade of pre-clinical research investigating how plant-derived compounds and extracts could complement conventional medicine in managing metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and related diseases.

“Metabolic syndrome refers to a combination of health problems that significantly increases a person’s risk of developing type two diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity.”

The research comes as metabolic diseases continue to increase globally, with Africa facing particular challenges due to limited healthcare resources and access to some treatments.

According to figures cited during Nyakudya’s lecture, diabetes currently affects about 589-million adults globally, with this figure expected to reach 853-million by 2050.

While conventional medicines remain important, Nyakudya said factors such as affordability, accessibility, long-term adherence, and reliance on imported pharmaceuticals could limit their effectiveness in some African settings.

“My argument is more specific: conventional pharmacotherapy, as currently deployed in African contexts, is structurally insufficient,” he said.

Over the course of his career, Nyakudya has developed a research programme focused on phytomedicine and metabolic health, producing 60 research-linked outputs.

His work brings together indigenous medicinal knowledge and modern biomedical science, using techniques including molecular biology, physiology, histology, and biochemistry.

Rather than relying on anecdotal claims about traditional medicine, his research investigates how plant compounds affect metabolism, inflammation, and glucose regulation at molecular, cellular, and organ levels.

One area of his research has examined naturally occurring phytochemicals found in indigenous plants.

Pre-clinical studies conducted by his team found that administering certain compounds during early stages of development could potentially provide long-term protection against metabolic dysfunction by influencing key metabolic pathways.

“The implication is profound: plant compounds administered in early life can reprogramme metabolic vulnerability, shifting the therapeutic frame from lifelong adult pharmacotherapy to targeted prophylactic early-life intervention,” Nyakudya said.

His research has also identified molecular pathways through which phytochemicals may influence glucose uptake, inflammation, and energy metabolism.

Nyakudya said this evidence could help move phytomedicine towards future clinical applications.

“Phytomedicine, done with mechanistic rigour, is not alternative medicine. It is integrative pharmacology,” he said.

He is also expanding his research beyond metabolic diseases to areas such as cancer biology and bone metabolism, investigating whether plant-derived compounds could target biological pathways shared by several chronic diseases.

Looking to the future, Nyakudya proposed that UP establish a dedicated natural products drug discovery platform.

The proposed platform would bring together researchers from different faculties to help move discoveries from laboratories towards clinical applications.

He also called for stronger regulatory pathways, dedicated funding for translational phytomedicine research and increased institutional investment in the field.

“The opportunity to be the leading institution for phytomedicine research in Africa is available now,” he said.

Nyakudya believes Africa’s biodiversity, combined with modern biomedical research, could help develop locally relevant and evidence-based solutions to some of the continent’s growing health challenges.

“Africa’s plants have been treating Africa’s diseases for millennia,” he said.

“What they have lacked is not therapeutic potential – it is scientific legitimacy, regulatory pathways and investment.”

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