Rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) are rabbit-sized, tail-less mammal herbivores which are widespread on the African continent, where they inhabit shelters in rocky outcrops in a variety of biomes. They defecate and urinate in latrines, in which the urine and faecal pellets accrete to form dark brown, resin-like masses in which plant material, pollen and other digestive remains are trapped.These middens fossilize with time in the dry arid regions of South Africa, become metres thick and are known as hyraceum (Afrikaans dassiepis or klipsweet). This is sold as traditional medicine and is exported to France as a fixative in the perfume industry. The Khoi (Hottentots) used powdered hyraceum to treat snake and scorpion bites, while a glutinous concoction from boiling the material with water has been used by oral administration as an antidote against poisons and as a cure for back and abdominal aches.
Afrikaner settlers in Gamkaskloof, a remote valley in the Swartberge, which was accessible only on foot until 1963, used an infusion of hyraceum as treatment for various ailments, including colic, hysteria, epilepsy and St Vitus’s dance (now known as Parkinson’s disease).
Epilepsy (or seizure disorder) is a common chronic neurological condition that is characterized by recurrent and sporadic epileptic seizures that arise from abnormal cerebral nerve cell activity. Epilepsy is linked to an imbalance in the GABAnergic system. γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, exerting its physiological effects by binding to various GABA receptors.
The GABAA receptor, which is implicated in epilepsy, also provides a binding site for benzodiazepines that allosterically modify the chloride channel gating of GABA. When a compound binds to the benzodiazepine site on the GABA receptor, it enhances the activity of GABA, thereby restoring normal brain activity and inhibiting seizures. It is also used to treat flammation, hormone booster for women, fertility, removes chemicals from contraceptives in
the bloodstream, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) (women), mainly given to females In previous studies we screened various South African plants used by traditional healers to treat
epilepsy for activity in the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor assay. They now use the same methods to attempt to understand the traditional use of hyraceum as a treatment for epilepsy by the settlers of Gamkaskloof.
