Journal of Medicinal Plants
Volume:14 Issue: 55, 2015

The treatments used by most doctors are considered conventional medicine. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) consists of a group of health care practices and products that are considered out of the mainstream. An “out-of-the-mainstream” treatment is considered complementary if you use it along with conventional medicine. Research shows that 40 percent of women in the United States use some form of CAM. People try CAM for a variety of reasons, including: conventional medicine has not helped solve their medical problem. They believe that products derived from nature are healthier and safer than prescription drugs, even though they may not be. They like the holistic approach taken by CAM therapists. A holistic approach involves paying attention to all of a client’s needs to help her regain and maintain her health. These include not just physical but also emotional, social, and spiritual needs. In this review we summarize some indications of herbal medicine in women's health.

Saffron (Crocus satious L.) provides a variety of promising preventive and therapeutic effects with non-considerable side effects. Based on our knowledge, this is the first study that simultaneously has reviewed the effect of saffron extract and its constituents on the factors associated with neuropsychological, cardiovascular, and gastrointestinal tract diseases. To search studies, an open-ended, language-restricted (English) search of MEDLINE (PubMed) and Science direct databases were conducted (up to 28 October 2014) using specific search criteria to identify all related studies. In addition the SID and Magiran databases were also searched for Persian articles. Results show that the saffron and its constituents can be beneficial for prevention and treatment of diseases related to memory and eye. However, studies about analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-seizure effects of saffron are few, the results are promising. The effects of saffron and its constituents on anxiety and insomnia have been only studied in animal models and the results are promising. Their antidepressants effects are also very evident. On the other hand, the effects of saffron and its active constituents in prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases have also been observed in previous studies. Although the studies about saffron effects on gastrointestinal diseases are few and only in animal models, they have shown potential benefits in prevention and treatment. It seems that saffron and its constituents have preventive and therapeutic roles in neurologic, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. These functions are contributed to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic properties of saffron.

Biostimulants are amino acids and organic components, which can play main role in the plant growth and dry matter accumulation. Determine the influence of foliar application of active amino acids on quality and quantity yield of Melissa officinalis L. This study was conducted in a research farm at the institute of medicinal plants on the base of randomized complete blocks design (RCBD) with three replications. The treatments were control (foliar application with distilled water) and commercial formulations of aminolforte, kadostim, fosnutren, and humiforte (each of them 2 L ha-1), and chemical fertilizer (70 kg ha-1 N.P.K). The results indicated that a significant increase in the content of citronellal, neral, delta-cadinene, germacrene, and geranial, were found in response to aminolforte and fosnutren application. The essential oil content was also increased through using kadostim and chemical fertilizer. A significant improvement in the plant height, number of flowers per stem, and SPAD value were observed in response to the foliar application of aminolforte. Morover, foliar application of fosnutren improved leaf length, leaf number, leaf area, leaf dry weight, and shoot dry weight, accordingly. There was no variation in the number of branches per plant among the treatments of kadostim and aminolforte; both of these treatments improved the attribute. The foliar application of free amino acids based on commercial formulations including aminolforte, kadostim, humiforte, and fosnutren can be effective on the quality and quantity yield of lemon balm.

Sustainable and commercial production of secondary metabolites is a critical issue when dealing with its clinical application. Efforts are still being made to look for biotic or abiotic elicitors with more efficient and universal effects on the improvement of secondary metabolites. In order to evaluate the suitability of different biotic elicitors on P. harmala L. cell suspension cultures was established to enhance the β-carboline alkaloids (harmaline and harmine) production. The elicitation of cell suspension cultures of Peganum harmala L. was done by adding various fungal mycelium homogenates (Aspergillus flavus, Alternaria alternate, Coriolus versicolor, Fusarium oxysporum, Mucor sp, Penicillium notatum, and Rhizopus stonifer), Casein hydrolysate and Saccharomyces cerevisiae at different concentrations. The cell cultures of P. harmala L. were subcultured on MS medium with optimal treatment of biotic elicitor. CAMAG analytical HPTLC system was used for estimation of harmaline and harmine after extraction of β-carboline alkaloids. The maximum harmine production (91.2±1.8 µg g-1 DW) was observed at 1000 mg l-1 S. cerevisiae in cell suspension culture of P. harmala L. (1.68 fold over than the control). Also the results showed that supplement of 75-100 mg l-1 casein hydrolysate in cell cultures media increased biomass of cell culture and harmaline and harmine production (1.61 and 1.46 times over than the control, respectively). The conclusion of the research showed that by applying biotic elicitors, we can reach to higher secondary metabolites (harmaline and harmine) in cell suspension culture of P. harmala L. We suggest future investigation on using other elicitors like bacterial extract or signal transduction compounds in cell suspension culture of P. harmala L. in order to increase the production of different kind of secondary metabolites.

Evidences show that Aloe vera (A. vera), Camellia sinensis, Hibiscus sabdariffa and Sophora alopecuroides may prevent gastric ulcer induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). To examine the protective potential of these plants against indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in the rat. Saline, A. vera leaf gel powder and 70% alcoholic extracts of the other 3 plants (100, 400, 800 mg/kg) and omeprazole (30 mg/kg) were gavaged to the groups of 10 animals for 4 consecutive days. Gastric ulcers were induced by the onetime gavage of indomethacin (30 mg/kg). On the fifth day, each group was pretreated with physiological saline as control, extract (100, 400 or 800 mg/kg) or omeprazole (30 mg/kg) 30 min before the indomethacin administration. The animals were killed 6 h after the indomethacin administration. The stomachs were removed, opened along the greater curvature and washed in physiological saline. A person unaware of the type of treatment received by the animals examined the stomachs under a 3-fold magnifier. The areas and lengths of hemorrhagic lesions induced by indomethacin were measured using a dial caliper and the sum of measurements for each animal was referred to as the ulcer index. All doses of the A. vera leaf gel powder and extracts reduced the ulcer index significantly compared to the control group (p < 0.05). These plants have protective effect against NSAID-induced gastric ulcer in the rat. The A. vera leaf gel seems noticeably more effective than the other 3 plants in this respect.

The application of natural compounds including green tea extract (GTE) in food and pharmaceutical industries is limited. Encapsulation in nanoliposomes could be used as a delivery system to protect these compounds during processing and storage. In this study encapsulation of green tea extract in nanoliposomes and evaluation of its antibacterial, antioxidant and prebiotic properties were evaluated. GTE was encapsulated in liposomes by thin film layer method and reached to nanoscale with sonication. The prebiotic activity of 1% nanoliposomal GTE was evaluated on the growth of lactobacillus casei and bifidobacterium lactis in MRS broth medium. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of nanoliposomal GTE was estimated by DPPH assay. The antibacterial activity of nanoliposomal GTE against Bacillus cereus (ATCC11778), Salmonella typhimurium 138 phage type 2, E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes (ATCC19118) was determined using well diffusion technique. The mean diameter of nanoliposomes was about 44.7± 1.9 nm and had 0.203 ±0.014 polydispersity index. Entrapment efficiency of nanoliposomal GTE under the optimum conditions was 97%. Antibacterial activity of GTE was significantly increased after encapsulation in nanoliposomes. The strongest antibacterial activity of nanoliposomal GTE was seen against listeria monocytogenes with an inhibition zone of 16.2 mm while E. coli was the most resistance strain with an inhibition zone of 14 mm. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of GTE was significantly increased after nanoliposome encapsulation since the IC50 value of nanoliposomal GTE was decreased to 1.78 μg ml-1. Moreover, addition of 1 % nanoliposomal GTE enhanced the growth rate of Lactobacillus casei and Bifidobacterium lactis to a significant extent. Nanoencapsulation effectively enhanced beneficial properties of GTE.

Lemon verbena (Lippia citriodora H.B.K.) is an aromatic and medicinal plant of family Verbenaceae, which cultivated in the North region of Iran. This comparative study was carried out on essential oil content and composition of Lippia citriodora H.B.K. from micro-propagated and rooted apical stem cutting plantlets. The micro-propagated plantlets were obtained by use of synthetic medium condition containing basal MS medium supplemented with 1 mg.l-1 BAP, 0.5 mg.l-1 IBA, 1 g.l-1 activated charcoal, 30 g.l-1 sucrose, and 7 g.l-1 agars. Pre-acclimated plantlets were transferred to the research greenhouse. To determine the essential oil content and its components in two types of plantlets, leaves of L. citriodora were collected in August 2013 before flowering stage. The essential oils were extracted by Clevenger apparatus and their constituents were determined by GC-MS. The results indicated that thirty-two components were determined in the stem cutting derived plantlets. The main components of stem cutting plantlets were geranial (13.81%), limonene (11.41%), spathulenol (11.22%), and neral (11.21%). Thirty-five components were also obtained in the micro-propagated plantlets. The main components of micro-propagated plantlets were consisted of geranial (17.26%), neral (14.48%), 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (10.75%), and limonene (8.93%). In general, the essential oil content of stem cutting plantlets was higher than micro-propagated plantlets, while the number of compounds and amount of geranial and neral in stem cutting plantlets was lower than micro-propagated plantlets.

Due to multiple drug resistance against antimicrobial drugs for treatment of infectious disease, investigations to discovering new antibacterial compounds from natural sources have been designated. According to antimicrobial effects of some Capparis species, this study was carried out to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the extract and fractions of Capparis cartilaginea and Capparis mucronifolia against 6 bacterial strains. Aerial parts of the Capparis species were extracted by maceration method using methanol and fractionated separately by liquid-liquid fractionation method. The antibacterial activity of the extract and fractions were studied against 6 bacterial strains using MIC microplate method. Total flavonoid content (TFC) of the extracts and fractions was determined using AlCl3 reagent. The total extract and methanolic fractions of C. mucronifolia were the most effective fractions against the bacterial strains. Methanolic fraction of C. cartilaginea was the most effective fraction with MIC 10.42 µg/ml against Salmonella enterica. The highest antibacterial activity of C.mucronifolia was against Staphylococcus epidermidis with MIC 7.8 µg/ml. Methanolic fractions of Capparis species showed the highest TFC value in AlCl3 colorimetric assay. The results of this study indicate that the extracts and fractions of Capparis cartilaginea and Capparis mucronifolia have antimicrobial effect against 6 gram positive and gram negative strains. According to the high amount of flavonoids in methanolic fraction of C. mucronifolia, the antibacterial activity may be related to the flavonoid compounds of this plant.

Rosa canina L. (rose hip) has been traditionally used to treat diabetes mellitus in Iran. However, no scientific human study has determined its efficacy in diabetic patients. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of R. canina fruit aqueous extract in type 2 diabetic patients. Sixty patients with type 2 diabetes, aged 35 - 60 years with fasting blood glucose levels between 130 to 200 mg/dL and HbA1c between 7 - 9% despite using conventional oral hypoglycemic drugs were divided randomly to two groups. Two groups of 25 and 23 patients completing the trial received 750 mg R. canina fruit extract and 750 mg toast powder as placebo two times a day respectively for three months.Fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) as primary outcomes and postprandial blood glucose (PBG), lipid profile and hepatic and renal function tests as secondary outcomes were determined at baseline and at endpoint of treatment. The patients were asked to note down any gastrointestinal or other side effects during the study. The FBG level decreased significantly (P = 0.002) in R. canina group after 3 months compared to the baseline. In addition total cholesterol/HDL-C was significantly (P = 0.02) decreased in the R. canina group compared to the baseline. Other blood parameters were not significantly changed during the study compared with placebo and baseline. No serious side effects were reported in both groups during the study. Rosa canina 3-month administration to type 2 diabetic patients may reduce fasting blood glucose and total cholesterol/HDL-C without any side effect.