Journal of Herbmed Pharmacology
Volume:7 Issue: 1, Jan 2018

Human societies have been in close contact with their environments since the beginning of their formation and used the ingredients of the environment to obtain food and medicine. Awareness and application of plants to prepare food and medicine have been realized through trial and error, and gradually human became able to meet his needs from his surroundings. Information about medicinal plants has long been transmitted gradually and from generation to generation, a human knowledge has gradually become complete with the formation of civilizations and the provision of more facilities. Medicinal plants are used as a medical resource in almost all cultures. Ensuring the safety, quality and effectiveness of medicinal plants and herbal drugs very recently became a key issue in industrialized and developing countries. By standardizing and evaluating the health of active plant-derived compounds, herbal drugs can help the emergence of a new era of the healthcare system to treat human diseases in the future. Awareness of traditional knowledge and medicinal plants can play a key role in the exploitation and discovery of natural plant resources. In order to maintain this knowledge, comprehensive approach and collaboration are needed to maintain historical records on medicinal plants and use these resources in favour of human beings, before they are destroyed forever. Therefore, this review was conducted to investigate and describe the process of using medicinal plants throughout history. This review focuses on the recent various important challenges in quality evaluation of medicinal plants in the authenticity, efficacy, toxicity and consistency.

Portulaca oleracea is used as a nutritional and medicinal plant. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of P. oleracea seeds in dexamethasone -induced hypertension in rats.
For induction of hypertension, dexamethasone (30 μg/kg/d, subcutaneously) was administered for 14 days. Animals received P. oleracea extract as a pretreatment at various doses of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg/d orally from 4 days before dexamethasone administration and during the test period. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) and heart rate were measured using tail-cuff method. The weight of thymus gland was estimated as a marker of glucocorticoid activity.
Dexamethasone injection significantly increased SBP (P The results of this study revealed that hydroalcoholic extract of P. oleracea seeds aggregates hypertension in dexamethasone-induced hypertensive rats. Hence, it should be used with caution in hypertensive patients receiving glucocorticoids.

Anemia is known to be an important problem in burn injury. We aimed to investigate the protective effect of Solanum tuberosum (potatoes), against abnormal breakdown of erythrocytes in burn injury.
Ninety-six male (9 to 10 weeks old) Swiss Albino mice (34–40 g) were included into the study, which consisted of two phases: dose optimization phase (n = 48) and study phase (n = 48). Half of the mice were given S. tuberosum juice (study group) and the other half drinking water (control group). The optimal dosage causing minimum decline in hematocrit was as follows: 1.6 mL/kg at 0 h, 0.8 mL/kg at 24 hours, and 0.8 mL/kg at 36 hours of burn injury. The burn injury was induced with a solid 10-mm aluminum bar heated in boiling water.
The decrease in hematocrit level was significantly lower in the study group than the control group at 24 and 48 hours (P = 0.05 and P = 0.023, respectively). The increase in anisocytosis, a hemolytic anemia sign, was also significantly lower in the study group than the control group at 48 hours (P = 0.021). There was no significant difference between groups in terms of clotting time or the bleeding time.
In burn injury, S. tuberosum may be beneficial against anemia and it may reduce the need for red blood cell transfusion.

The genus Malassezia is an important skin resident of human. The present study aimed to analyze in vitro activity of the essential oils of Lavandula stoechas, Cuminum cyminum and Artemisia sieberi against clinical strains of Malassezia species.
A total of 47 Malassezia strains, including Malassezia furfur, Malassezia globosa and Malassezia obtuse, were used in this study. A disk diffusion technique was selected for testing the susceptibility of Malassezia strains to the essential oils.
All the essential oils showed in vitro activity against Malassezia strains, with M. furfur and M. obtusa being the highest and lowest susceptible of the strains, respectively. The highest antifungal activity was associated with the essential oil of C. cyminum (mean ± SD: 50.0 ± 0.0 mm), followed by L. stoechas (mean ± SD: 46.8 ± 3.1 mm) and A. sieberi (mean ± SD: 36.9 ± 5.7 mm). The inhibition zone ranges were 12.5 to 15.6 mm (mean ± SD: 14.4 ± 1.6 mm) for ketoconazole and 11.6 to 13.3 mm (mean ± SD: 12.4 ± 0.9 mm) for fluconazole. Although all the antifungal drugs were found to possess good antifungal activities against Malassezia strains, their effects were lower than the activities shown by the essential oils tested (P These results indicated that the essential oils tested, especially the one from C. cyminum, inhibited the growth of clinical strains of Malassezia, implying its potential use in the treatment of Malassezia infections. This indicates that this plant may be useful in preparation of new drugs.

Zataria multiflora Boiss. is an indigenous herbal plant found in many parts of Iran. This herb is traditionally used as a remedy for treating gastrointestinal disorders including diarrhea. Despite the existence of few pharmacological evidences which support the antispasmodic action of Z. multiflora in vitro, there is no scientific report about therapeutic efficacy of Z. multiflora in animal models. The objective of this research was to investigate the antispasmodic activity of hydroalcoholic and hexane extracts of Z. multiflora on intestinal peristaltic movement as well as assessment of its antidiarrheal action in mice.
Dried leafy branches of Z. multiflora were coarsely powdered and subjected to extraction by ethanol or hexane in a percolator apparatus. Antispasmodic activity of Z. multiflora in vivo was assessed by investigating effect of the extracts on intestinal charcoal meal transit. The antidiarrheal activity of Z. multiflora extracts was evaluated by castor oil and magnesium sulfate‑induced diarrhea. The inhibitory effects of the extracts were compared with the standard drug loperamide.
The antispasmodic activity of Z. multiflora (20 & 40 mg/kg) hydroalcoholic and hexane extracts was confirmed by a reduction in the distance traveled by charcoal meal alongside the small intestine. Z. multiflora extracts (20 & 40 mg/kg) also significantly attenuated the castor oil and magnesium sulfate‑induced diarrhea. Loperamide was more efficacious in reducing number of total stools in both models of diarrhea.
The obtained results have established a pharmacological evidence for the folkloric use of the Z. multiflora as an antidiarrhoeal and spasmodic agent.

The thermal pasteurization is a common method for maintaining fruit juice and increasing shelf life, but the thermal processing changes the flavor and color of the products. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a new method of combining heat and ultrasound on the number of the Escherichia coli present in grape juice.
In this study, the effects of the microwave power, temperature, ultrasound power and ultrasonic exposure time were evaluated on E. coli count of red grape juice. In order to determine the microbial inactivation by microwave and ultrasound, E. coli at a concentration of 6×106 per mL was inoculated to red grape juice.
The effects of microwave power, grape juice temperature, ultrasound power and ultrasonic exposure time on the reduction of E. coli were significant (P Both sample temperature and ultrasonic duration were important independent variables and effective factors on E. coli reduction.

Cyclophosphamide is an alkylating agent with antineoplastic and immunosuppressive effects. Acrolein, one of its metabolites, is responsible for different toxic side effects such as oxidative stress, and cell death. The present study aimed to evaluate protective effects of farnesol, a natural terpenoid with antioxidant effects, on cyclophosphamide induced side effects.
For this purpose, mice received 200 mg/kg of cyclophosphamide plus 5 or 10 mg/kg of farnesol as pretreatment for 7 days. At the end of the study, samples from blood and different organs were collected. Histopathological and biochemical analyses including malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) content as well as alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were done to determine the toxic effects of cyclophosphamide and probable protective effect of farnesol.
Application of farnesol as a pretreatment could reduce tissue damages induced by cyclophosphamide particularly in testis, liver and spleen. The kidney did not show any relapse in tissue damages induced by cyclophosphamide. The testis demonstrated the most improvement by administration of farnesol, and the anti-oxidant enzymes increased in testicular tissues.
This study indicated the protective effect of farnesol against oxidative stress induced by cyclophosphamide in the tissues, especially at the dose of 10 mg/kg on the testicular tissue. Hence, it might be beneficial in patients who are using cyclophosphamide.

Tea bags or infuses of Salvia species from Lamiaceae family are traditionally used for the treatment of cough, and throat inflammations. They are known for antioxidant properties mainly related to the presence of rosmarinic acid (RA). Therefore it is necessary to develop a reliable analytical method for RA assay for standardization of Salvia species and also other plants containing RA like Melissa, Origanum, Lavandula, Rosmarinus, Thymus, Zataria, Mentha, Perovskia, Zhumeria, and Satureja species. In this study using a suitable extraction method by removing unwanted components present in crude methanol extract, phenolic content containing RA was extracted from dry powders of six Salvia species. Then, a suitable high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was optimized for quantification of RA in Salvia species.
HPLC analysis was done on a Waters system, equipped with 515 HPLC pump and waters 2487 dual wavelength absorbance detector. The column was a Nova-Pak C18 (3.9 × 150 mm), and Millenium software was used for the determination of the compounds and processing the data. The method was validated according to USP 32 requirements.
Among the investigated 6 species, S. virgata was the richest in RA level, demonstrating 3.50 ± 0.12 mg/g, followed by S. sclarea and S. chloroleuca showing 1.65 ± 0.08 and 1.65 ± 0.21 mg/g. S. ceratophylla with 0.10 ± 0.01 mg/g of RA in dried plant powder was the poorest.
The validated HPLC method allows determination of amounts as low as 2.5 μg/mL of RA and linearity in the ranges of 2.5-25 μg/mL and 100–600 μg/mL, which is suitable for standardization of Salvia species in traditional and pharmaceutical formulations.

Ischemia in rat brain causes severe neuronal damage and causes anxiety disorders. Ferulago angulata extracts contain phenolic compounds with powerful antioxidant activity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of F. angulata (Chevilan) extract on locomotor activity and anxiety in ischemia model in rats.
In this experimental study, 50 male Wistar rats weighing 200 to 250 g were randomly divided into 5 groups including intact (control), ischemic hypoperfusion without extract and three groups of ischemic hypo-perfusion, for 14 days, received 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg Chevilan extracts by gavage method daily. For ischemia common bilateral carotid arteries were isolated, blocked in two parts and cut from the middle section. Locomotor activity and anxiety were evaluated during an open field testing.
The ischemic group showed a significant increase in anxiety and decrease in motor activity in the open field test. Administration of 100, 200 or 400 mg/kg doses of the extract significantly reduced the number of raising hands, especially at the dose of 200 (P Ferulago angulata extract reduces anxiety in animal models of ischemia, which is probably due to some phenolic compounds and its antioxidant activity.

Thioacetamide (TAA) intoxication is underlying acute liver damage, inflammation, and tissue necrosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate of Thymus daenensis extract effect on acute liver disease induced by the thioacetamide and its effects on the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6) cytokines.
In an experimental study, 36 male Wistar rats were divided into 6 groups of 6 each. The amount of 0.03-g thioacetamide dissolved in 1 mL of distilled water was injected intraperitoneally to all mice groups except the control group for 3 weeks, twice a week. The negative control group received only thioacetamide and the other groups received 8 mg/kg silibinin by gavage, other than to thioacetamide. The experimental groups, after injection of thioacetamide were treated with 5, 10 or 20 mg/kg extract of T. daenensis for 2 weeks. Peripheral blood samples were taken from the rats’ hearts after general anesthesia. Then, TNF-α and IL-6 cytokines levels were measured by Elisa kits. Pathology evaluation was also examined on liver.
TNF-α and IL-6 levels decreased in the groups treated with 5 mg/mL (respectively, P = 0.001, P = 0.05), 10 mg/mL (P Thymus daenensis extract has anti-inflammatory and protective effects on liver toxicity induced by thioacetamide. Hence, it might be used for this purpose or for similar toxicities.