Search results for "Phytotherapy"
showing 10 items of 153 documents
Medicinal Plants for Insomnia Related to Anxiety: An Updated Review.
2021
AbstractSleep disorders are common among the general population and can generate health problems such as insomnia and anxiety. In addition to standard drugs and psychological interventions, there are different complementary plant-based therapies used to treat insomnia and anxiety. This review aimed to find and examine the most recent research on the use of herbal medicines for treating anxiety and insomnia as compiled from clinical trials, as well as to assess the safety and efficacy of these medicines and to elucidate their possible mechanisms of action. The process entailed a search of PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library databases from 2010 to 2020. The search terms included “sleep d…
Activity investigation of pinostrobin towards herpes simplex virus-1 as determined by atomic force microscopy
2009
In the present study, the antiviral activity of pinostrobin towards herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) was investigated by MTT assay and atomic force microscopy. Pinostrobin can inhibit HSV-1 replication with 50% effective concentration (EC(50)) of 22.71 ± 1.72 μg/ml. MTT assay showed HSV-1 was significantly inhibited when pretreated with pinostrobin, with the inhibition of 85.69 ± 2.59%. Significant changes in morphology and size of HSV-1 were observed by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in response to pinostrobin treatment. AFM topography and phase images showed that with increasing time, the envelope was shedded and damaged, finally leading to virus inactivation. With increasing concentration, …
Inhibition of Folic Acid Uptake by Catechins and Tea Extracts in Caco-2 Cells
2006
In this present study it was aimed to determine whether the catechins contained in green tea and the whole extracts of Camellia sinensis (Theaceae) inhibit the uptake of folic acid by Caco-2 cell monolayers. Our results indicate that (-)-epigallocatechin 3-gallate (EGCG) and (-)-epicatechin 3-gallate (ECG) inhibit cellular folic acid uptake with IC50 values of 34.8 micromol/L and 30.8 micromol/L, respectively. Furthermore, green and black tea extracts were also found to inhibit folic acid uptake with IC50 values of approximately 7.5 and 3.6 mg/mL, respectively. According to these results, simultaneous intake of tea and folic acid may inhibit intestinal folic acid absorption. The consequence…
Cytotoxicity and modes of action of three naturally occurring xanthones (8-hydroxycudraxanthone G, morusignin I and cudraxanthone I) against sensitiv…
2014
Abstract Background Resistance of cancer to chemotherapy remains a challenging issue for scientists as well as physicians. Naturally occurring xanthones possess a variety of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-cancer effects. The present study was aimed at investigating the cytotoxicity and the modes of action of three naturally occurring xanthones namely, morusignin I (1), 8-hydroxycudraxanthone G (2) and cudraxanthone I (3) against a panel of nine cancer cell lines, including various sensitive and drug-resistant phenotypes. Methods The cytotoxicity of the compounds was determined using a resazurin reduction assay, whereas the caspase-Glo assay was use…
Potential of ‘Omics’ Technologies for Implementation in Research on Phytotherapeutical Toxicology
2012
Abstract High toxicity is the most common reason why new agents drop out of drug development in the pharmaceutical industry. There is hope that toxicogenomics facilitates the early detection of toxic effects and their molecular mechanisms of action during preclinical studies to remove potentially toxic substances from the development. Herbal remedies consist of mixtures of different herbs, which represent a considerable source of heterogeneity and toxicity. They may be caused by botanical misidentification, contamination with pesticides, heavy metals, organic solvents, microbials and radioactivity. Intentional faked herbal products may contain chemical drugs or hormones. Approaches to apply…
Considerations regarding the alleged association between Herbalife products and cases of hepatotoxicity: a rebuttal.
2014
We thank Dr. K Appelhans et al. for their comments [1] on our paper [2], published online first in April 2012. In our review, we aimed to draw the attention of physicians to the uncontrolled and increasingly alarming use of herbal products and dietary supplements in the general population. In fact, in Italy this phenomenon, though still limited, has rapidly increased over the last few years. Here, use of herbal medicine products has increased to 3.7 %, while in other countries consumption is higher, reaching 20 % in the UK, and 40 % in the USA. Young non-smoking women with a high level of education appear to be the most common consumers [3]. It seems that women use these products more than …
Artemisinin–Second Career as Anticancer Drug?
2015
Artemisinin represents a showcase example not only for the activity of medicinal herbs deriving from traditional chinese medicine, but for phytotherapy in general. Its isolation from Sweet Wormwood (qinhao, Artemisia annua L.) represents the starting point for an unprecedent success story in the treatment of malaria worldwide. Beyond the therapeutic value against Plasmodium parasites, it turned out in recent years that the bioactivity of artemisinin is not restricted to malaria. We and others found that this sesquiterpenoid also exerts profound anticancer activity in vitro and in vivo. Artemisinin-type drugs exert multi-factorial cellular and molecular actions in cancer cells. Ferrous iron …
Anti-inflammatory agents from plants: Progress and potential
2011
The identification of substances that can promote the resolution of inflammation in a way that is homeostatic, modulatory, efficient, and well-tolerated by the body is of fundamental importance. Traditional medicines have long provided front-line pharmacotherapy for many millions of people worldwide. Medicinal extracts are a rich source of therapeutic leads for the pharmaceutical industry. The use of medicinal plant therapies to treat chronic illness, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is thus widespread and on the rise.The aim of this review is to present recent progress in clinical anti-inflammatory studies of plant extracts and compound leads such a…
Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Flavonol Glycosides fromErythrospermum monticolumDepending on Single or Repeated Local TPA Administration
1995
Two anti-inflammatory principles were isolated from the methanol extract of the leaves of Erythrospermum monticolum (Flacourtiaceae). The isolation was based on a guided bioassay of the inhibitory activity on TPA-induced ear edema in mice. These compounds were identified as quercetin 3-O-xylosyl(1-->2) rhamnoside and quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside. In addition, their effects on a chronic topic inflammation model were evaluated.
Anti-inflammatory activity of two cucurbitacins isolated from Cayaponia tayuya roots.
2004
Fractionation of an anti-inflammatory extract from Cayaponia tayuya roots yielded two active compounds, identified as 23,24-dihydrocucurbitacin B (1) and cucurbitacin R (2). Both were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activity on several experimental models of pain and inflammation. In addition, their cytotoxicity and effects on leukotriene B 4 (LTB 4 ) formation were evaluated in rat polymorphonuclear leukocytes. Both compounds showed activity in the following models: carrageenan-induced mouse paw oedema (1, 4 mg/kg p.o., 46% inhibition at 3 h), phospholipase A 2 -induced mouse paw oedema (2, 3 mg/kg i.p., 61% inhibition at 60 min), serotonin-induced mouse paw oedema (1 and 2, 0.5 mg/k…