Journal of Herbmed Pharmacology
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Jan 2015

Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill) is one of the oldest spice plants which, due to its economic importance and significant pharmaceutical industry applications, is considered as one of the world’s most important medicinal plants. The purpose of this study is to investigate and collect scientific reports such as morphological characteristics, phytochemical compounds and evaluation of the therapeutic properties of this valuable medicinal plant that have been published. In order to gather the information the keywords Fennel and Foeniculum vulgare mill, therapeutic, and pharmacology have been searched until January 1, 2015 from journals accessible in databases such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, EBSCO, Medline, PubMed, Embase, SID and Iran Medex. The results showed that this plant has various pharmacological properties including antioxidant, anti-cancer activity, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, anti-bacterial and estrogenic effects which are probably due to the presence of aromatic compounds such as anethole, estragole and fenshon. Fennel possesses various pharmacological properties and the fennel bioactive molecules play an important role in human health, hence, it might be used for different drug productions.

Leishmaniasis is a zoonotic disease caused by a protozoan of the genus Leishmania. In this study, the effects of Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff essential oil on the promastigot form of Leishmania major were studied. In this study, the effects of Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff essential oil on the promastigot form of Leishmania major were assessed by calculating the average number of surviving promastigots after exposure to different concentrations of essential oil, relative to the control Glucantime, at different time intervals. To achieve this, various essential oil concentrations (7.5 μl, 15 μl, 25 μl, 35.25 μl, 50 μl) were added to parasites. Different groups in this study were kept in a 26°C incubator under identical conditions. 24, 48 and 72 hours after incubation, living promastigots were counted. The effect of the essential oil of Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff differed from the negative and positive controls and depended on the concentration: higher concentrations (35.25 μl, 50 μl) had a stronger effect on promastigots, causing total mortality. This study showed that Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff essential oil had effects on promastigot form of Leishmania major. So it might be possible to use the essential oil of Kelussia odoratissima instead of chemical drugs.

Little information is available about phytochemical and biological properties of Cousinia genus. In a primary study, seven Cousinia species including C. verbascifolia showed cytotoxic activity ranged between 18.4 ± 0.59 to 87.9 ± 0.58 μg/mL. To the best of our knowledge, no other biological studies have been conducted on this plant. Therefore, in this study the cytotoxic effect of Cousinia verbascifolia Bunge against OVCAR-3 and HT-29 cancer cells was evaluated. Filtration and in vacuo concentration of methanol extract resulted in a green gum which was subjected on reverse column chromatography. Semi polar fraction (41.3 g) eluted with water: methanol (20:80), was then subjected on a silica gel column chromatography using hexane/acetone and resulted in 11 fractions. Finally, cytotoxic activities against ovarian and colon cancer cells were determined at a wavelength of 570 nm by Matrix metalloproteinase protein (MTT) standard method. None of the fractions showed highly cytotoxic activity. Based on NCI, fractions Fr. 1, Fr. 2, Fr. 4, Fr. 5, Fr. 6, Fr. 8 and Fr. 10 showed moderately cytotoxicity with IC50 values ranged between 119 to 190 μg/mL against OVCAR-3 cells. Fractions Fr. 1, Fr. 2, Fr. 6, Fr. 7 and Fr. 8 showed moderately cytotoxic activity ranged between 118 to 194 μg/mL against HT-29 cells. Fr. 10 and Fr. 11 showed no cytotoxic activity. Due to the inhibitory properties of extract and its fractions on cancer cells, identification of responsible compounds possessing cytotoxic effects for generating possible new approach in medicinal chemistry are recommended.

Skin as the biggest single body organ is always exposing to various injuries, therefore health and healing of its injuries is vital. Artemisia sieberi is a valuable medicinal plant with a long history of indication in folk and modern medicine. Due to different chemical components and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and cytoprotective properties of Artemisia, this study was conducted to study the histomorphometric effects of Artemisia sieberi (A. sieberi) extract on mice skin. Ninety adult mice were randomly divided in 3 groups. In the treatment group A. sieberi extract dissolved in ethanol & distilled water, in the positive control ethanol & distilled water, and in negative control only distilled water were applied on the shaved dorsum twice daily for 21 days. Mean thickness of epidermis, hypodermis & dermis layers, percentage of collagen fibers and histological evaluation of skin layers were studied in 1, 3, 5, 14 and 21days post treatment. Data were presented as mean± SD and analyzed using one way ANOVA and LSD post hoc tests. The P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. A. sieberi extract significantly increased epidermis thickness in day 1, hypodermis, dermis and percentage of collagen fibers in day 3 in comparison to positive and negative control groups. Histology study revealed normal structure of skin and no abnormality was seen. A. sieberi extract can be effective for health and healing of skin injuries by increasing thickness of the skin layers and amount of collagen fibers.

Eucalyptus has more than 400 species, while only a few species of this genus have been imported in Iran. In this study we aimed to investigate chemical compounds of the essential oils of Eucalyptus species adapted in Lorestan climate. In this study, the fresh young leaves of four different Eucalyptus species including E. suggrandis, E. globulus subsp. bicostata, E. nitens and E. globulus subsp. maidenii were collected in spring (the middle of May) in khorramabad, Iran. The powder of air-dried leaves of different species of Eucalyptus was subjected to hydro-distillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The chemical compositions of different essential oils were detected using gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and determination of their retention time (RT), retention index (RI) and Mass Spectra. The obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software. The results of this study indicated that there was significant difference (P<0.01) among the yield and chemical compounds of the essential oils of studied species. The results showed that the yield of essential oil extracted from E. suggrandis, E. globulus bicostata, E. nitens and E. globulus maidenii were 1.12%, 1.34%, 2.57% and 5.38%, respectively. The essential oil constituents of four Eucalyptus species plant were different in among of some compounds. E. globulus maidenii had most content of essential oil and 1.8-Cineole compound so it is necessary to identify quality and quantity characteristics of compounds available in this plant.

Propolis is a natural product derived from various plant resins collected by honeybees, and has been used as a folk medicine for centuries. Propolis has been reported to exhibit a broad spectrum of activities including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, and anticancer properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) obtained from Dinaran area (Iran) on AGS human gastric cancer cell line. The ethanolic extract of samples was obtained by ethanol 96% and pure extract was dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and used for experiments. The cytotoxic effects of various concentrations of EEP on AGS cells were investigated by MTT assay test after 24, 48, and 72 hours and compared with control cells. The EEP inhibited the growth and proliferation of AGS human gastric cancer cell line. The antiproliferative effects were revealed in a dose and time-dependent manner. The IC50 values were recorded as 60, 30, and 15 (μg/ml) in treatment times of 24, 48 and 72 hours, respectively. These findings indicated that the native EEP has strong antiproliferative effects against cancerous AGS cells. Thus, propolis and related products may provide a novel approach to the chemoprevention and treatment of human gastric cancer.

Due to their roles in the maintenance of human health, phytochemicals and antioxidants in plants are raising interest. Phenolic and flavonoids are components with potential to protect against human diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancers. Q. brantii is one of the traditional folk medicinal plants widely used in Iran. In this study, crude methanol extract and four correspond fractions of this plant were used to evaluate the total phenolic, total flavonoids, total flavonol, and antioxidant activities. The identification of phenolic, flavonoid, and flavonol components and assay of antioxidant activity were carried out using standard in vitro procedures. The n-butanol fraction (376.2±7.1) had the highest amount of total phenolic compounds and the n-butanol fraction exhibited the lowest IC50 value (6.5±0.6 μg ml). There was significant relationship between the total phenolic contents and the free radical scavenging property in the four fractions in this study (R= -0.768, P< 0.01). The results indicate that at least, n-butanol fraction of this plant with high phytoconstituents and less toxicity could be a promising source of medicinally important natural compound.