The cat's claw, a plant from the Amazon region that is already used to treat different diseases, is also effective in combating dengue, Brazilian media reported Tuesday.

Experiments with an advanced extract of cat's claw (uncaria tomentosa) to prevent inflammation caused by dengue fever have proved promising and a new natural medicine would be ready shortly, according to researchers of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, which is affiliated with the Brazilian Health Ministry.

The substance extracted from the cat's claw directly involves in the production of proteins needed to respond to the inflammatory effect caused by dengue, which manages to prevent the worsening of the disease.

"This is one of several plants in which we have seen a preliminary result of inhibition of certain inflammatory factors that occur when dengue infects the body," Sonia Kubelka Claire Reis, a researcher of the foundation, was quoted as saying.

At present, there are no effective medicines to combat dengue fever, whose virus is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, and the only recommended treatment is hydration of patients as they recover.

The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation is considered the largest center for the studies in medicine in Latin America.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2008)