Journal of Medicinal Plants
Volume:1 Issue: 4, 2002

Hepatitis is emerging as a serious worldwide problem. It is liver cellular, inflamation that commonly caused by alcohol, chemicals, toxins and viruses. Six different types of hepatitis viruses such as A, B, C, D, E, G, is known. They may produce the diseases together or single form. The diseases transmission is mostly following infected blood transfusion, infected syringes, and via injury and sexual behaviors. Hepatitis may manifest as hepatic fibrosis, cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, glomerulonephritis, cryoglobulinemia, porphyria and upper intestinal hemorrhage. The liver damage is due to virus activity and inflammatory changes secondary to immune activity. Hepatitis C has a latency of 10-30 years and symptoms or sings may not appear until cirrhosis is evident. This long latency time may be good opportunity for treatment of disease by use of herbal and complementary medicines. However in this review we try to investigate the efficacy of nutrition, herbal and complementary medicines in the control and treatment of hepatitis.

Echinacea is one of the most widely used medicinal herbs which is native to north America. The genus Echinacea consists of nine species, three of which E. angustifolia, E. pallida, and E. purpurea are used medicinally. Echinacea has been used for centuries, customarily as a treatment for the common cold, coughs, bronchitis, upper respiratory infections, and some inflammatory conditions. Although many of the active compounds of echinacea have been identified, the mechanism of action is not known. Studies show that the plant and its active component affect the phagocytic immune system, but not the specifically acquired immune system. Currently, Echinacea is being used to combat bacterial, viral, protozoan, and fungal infections, as an anti-inflammatory agent, and as an a possible chemopreventative agent.

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has emerged over the past decades as a major health problem. The challenge of antibiotic resistance has generally been met in two ways: through the discovery of completely novel antibiotics and by the use of derivatives of known antibiotics frequently prepared by semisynthetic methods to overcome existing resistance mechanisms. An alternative to these two pathways towards new therapies as a response to antimicrobial resistance is the development of inhibitors of resistance mechanisms. In this approach, the antibiotic is co-administered with an inhibitor that neutralizes the resistance mechanism and allows the antibiotic to affect microbial growth, even in resistant organisms. We have screened some plant extracts and essential oils for their nitrofurantoin breaker activity. In our investigation the ethanolic diluted essential oil of the aerial parts of Mentha longifolia were found to have nitrofurantoin resistance breaker activity against numerous nitrofurantoin resistances Entherobacteriaceae. To the best of our knowledge, the Present study is the first finding of antibacterial activity of nitrofurantoin against Enterobacteria resistant to it in the presence of essential oil of Mentha longifolia.

The essential oil of the leaves of Lippia citriodora H.B.K. (Verbenaceae) cultivated in Iran was analyzed by capillary GC, GC/MS and co-injection techniques. The major constituents were geraniol, 1-octen-3- ol,nerol, neral and limonene + 1,8- cineole.

Alzheimer’s disease is a relentlessly progressive disease with cognitive, functional and behavioral changes over time. Current research into new drugs is focused on agents that will prevent, slow down and/or halt the progress of the disease process. Melissa officinalis has been used in herbal medicine for many centuries. It has been suggested, on the basis of traditional medicine, its in vitro cholinergic binding properties and modulation of mood and cognitive performance in humans, that Melissa officinalis might potentially provide a novel natural treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy and safety of Melissa officinalis extract using a fixed dose (60 drops/day), in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, over the four months. This was a 4-month, parallel group, placebo controlled trial undertaken in 3 centres in Tehran, Iran. Patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease aged between 65-80 years (n=42, 18 women) with a score of ≥ 12 on the cognitive subscale of Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS-cog) and ≤ 2 on the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) were randomised to placebo or fixed dose of Melissa officinalis extract. Over the 16 weeks, the main efficacy measures were the change in the ADAS-cog and CDR-SB scores compared to baseline. In addition, side effects were systematically recorded throughout the study using a checklist. At 4 months, Melissa officinalis extract produced a significant better outcome on cognitive functions than placebo (ADAS-cog: d.f. = 1, F= 6.93, P=0.01) (CDR: d.f.= 1, F = 16.87, P< 0.0001). There were no significant differences in the two groups in terms of observed side effects except agitation that was more often in the placebo group (P = 0.03). The results of this study indicate the efficacy of Melissa officinalis extract in the management of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, the effect of Melissa officinalis on agitation of patients, may well prove a novel natural treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

As some Pistacia species showed anti-inflammatory activities, the antinociceptive, anti- inflammatory and acute toxicity effects of Pistacia vera L. hydroalcoholic gum extract were studied in mice and rats. Antinociceptive activity was determined using hot-plate, writhing, and formalin tests. The activity of the extract against acute inflammation was studied using xylene-induced ear edema in mice, The activity of the extract against chronic inflammation was assessed by the cotton pellet test in rats. LD50 value and the maximum non fatal dose of the gum were 3.77 and 1 g/kg (i.p.) in mice, respectively. The intraperitoneal injection of extract (0.25-2 g/kg) in mice showed significant and dose-dependent antinociceptive activity in hot plate. Naloxone (2 mg/kg, s.c.) pretreatment inhibited the antinociceptive activity of the extract. The extract (0.25 and 0.5 g/kg, i.p.) exhibited antinociceptive activity against acetic acid-induced writhing, which was not blocked by naloxone. The extract (0.25-1 g/kg, i.p.) also showed antinociceptive activities in formalin test. In the xylene ear edema, P. vera extract (0.25-1 g/kg, i.p.) showed significant anti-inflammatory activity in mice and exerted remarkable activity against chronic inflammation induced by the cotton pellet in rats as well. It is concluded that ethanolic extract of P. vera gum have antinociceptive effect and this may be mediated by opioid receptors, as well as inhibition of inflammatory mediators. The extract showed also anti-inflammatory effect against acute and chronic inflammation.

The aerial parts of Dracocephalum multicaule Montbr. & Auch. (Fam. Labiatae) collected in August 1995 from Lasom Valley, Haraz Road, Province Tehran. The essential oil of the plant obtained by hydrodistillation (0.28%) by clevenger type apparatus and was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. 27 components were identified, constituing 90% of the oil, major component were limonene, -pinene and methyl geraniate.

The effect of Perovskia abrotanoides aqueous and ethanolic aerial extracts against acute inflammation was studied by xylene induced era edema. The activity of the extracts against chronic inflammation was assessed by cotton pellet test in rats. Antinociceptive effect of the extracts was also evaluated by formaline test in mice. Doses of 0.125-1 g of both extracts in groups of six-mice and eight rats were studied. Both extracts showed significant acute anti-inflammatory effect, but did not show activity against chronic inflammation. Antinociceptive effect of both extracts was observed in early phase and late phase of paw licking and this effect in the aqueous extract was significant. It is concluded that both extracts have acute anti-inflammatory effect and have not activity against chronic inflammation. The antinociceptive effect of the extracts may be mediated by both neurogenic and inflammatory mechanisms.