Can plants make aspirin?

What is ​THALE CRESS? Identification name: Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh Family: Brassicaceae Habitat: native to Africa, Asia, Europe Medicinal parts: not found Key chemical constituents: it contains flavonoids, benzenoids, alkaloids, fatty acid derivatives, terpenes, steroids, sulfur metabolites. Properties and uses: it is used as a model organism in plant genomics, cancer and biotechnology research. Curiosity: to be updated Caution: to be updated What is ASPIRIN? Aspirin is an acetylated salicylate with an established efficacy. However, aspirin can cause more gastrointestinal bleeding than other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Aspirin inhibits cyclooxygenase enzyme, blocking the synthesis of prostaglandins, endoperoxides, and thromboxanes. Thromboxane A2 is produced by the platelets and it is involved in platelet aggregation. Aspirin reduces both platelet aggregation and coagulation. Aspirin is used to reduce pain, fever, and inflammation.

Plants can feel stress and have defense mechanisms to control it. Some plants cope with environmental stresses by producing specific molecules that trigger the release of salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is a plant hormone that is used to make the anti-inflammatory ASPIRIN.

​References Plants Appear to Be Self-Medicating by Producing Their Own Aspirin When Stressed. Nature, 17 July 2022. Plants Appear to Be Self-Medicating by Producing Their Own Aspirin When Stressed (sciencealert.com) Koda-Kimble, Mary Anne. Applied Therapeutics: The Clinical Use of Drugs. 9th ed., Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2009. Plant illustrations from Plantsillustrations.org Ullah, Chhana, et al. "The diversity of salicylic acid biosynthesis and defense signaling in plants: Knowledge gaps and future opportunities." Current Opinion in Plant Biology 72 (2023): 102349. Soledade, M., C. Pedras, and Qingan Zheng. "The chemistry of Arabidopsis thaliana." (2010): 1297-1315. Clavijo-Buriticá, Diana Carolina, et al. "Use of Arabidopsis thaliana as a model to understand specific carcinogenic events: Comparison of the molecular machinery associated with cancer-hallmarks in plants and humans." Heliyon 9.4 (2023).