Journal of Medicinal Plants
Volume:10 Issue: 37, 2011

Premenstrual syndromes (PMS) are a group of menstrually related, chronic and cyclical disorders characterized by emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms in the second half (luteal phase) of the menstrual cycle. Several line of evidence point to a significant role of the serotonergic system in the course of the luteal phase in women with PMS/ Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. It has been reported that herbal medicine is useful in relieving the symptoms of PMS. An American telephone survey suggested that up to 80% self-medicating sufferers use complementary remedies. This review focused on herbal medicine in the treatment of PMS.

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.), wild or cultivated, is widely distributed throughout the world and belongs to the Fabacecae family. It is an old medicinal plant and has been commonly used as a traditional food and medicine. Fenugreek is known to have hypoglycemic, and hypocholesterolaemic, effects. Recent research has identified fenugreek as a valuable medicinal plant with potential for multipurpose uses and also as a source for preparing raw materials of pharmaceutical industry, especially steroidal hormones. A significant increase in quantity and quality yields through the suitable management of cultivation, breeding and biotechnology practices could make an immediate and important contribution to farm and pharmaceutical industry income. To achieve these goals with regard to sustainable production, we reviewed a summary of biology, cultivation and biotechnology of fenugreek in this paper.

Advantages of herbal drugs have been known to human being for many years and they have been used for treatment of many diseases. Nowadays, inflammation is known to be one of the basic pathologic causes of the diseases. In this study the anti-inflammatory effects of Thymus kotschyanus Boiss & Hohen was investigated. Forty two Wistar rats were used into three divided groups. In the first group, extract of Thymus kotschyanus Boiss & Hohen in doses of 50,100,150,200 mg/kg was injected intra peritoneal and after one hour they were treated with hind paw edema test with carrageenan. In the second group, Indomethacin with the dose of 5 mg/kg was injected one hour before carrageenan and in the third one, saline was injected before carrageenan, every hours after carrageenan injection to rat’s right hind paw; the inflammation was separately measured by the change in the volume of mercury (plethysmometer). Indomethacin and Thymus kotschyanus Boiss & Hohen extract had significantly reduced edema in all five measurements (p

Cynara scolymus and Cichorium intybus are popular herbal remedy in folk medicine for liver disorders. Although many experimental studies carried out, scientifically reliable data needed to verify minimum effective dosage and efficacy of these medicinal plants. In present investigation, the effects of C. scolymus leaf and C. intybus root extracts at different doses were tested against CCl4 induced rats liver toxicity. The C. scolymus leaf and C. intybus root extracts at the doses of 300, 600 and 900 and 150, 300 and 450 mg/kg/day were prepared respectively. Liver intoxication was induced in 7 groups of rats by intraperitoneal injection of 1 ml/kg of 1:1 CCl4 in olive oil for two successive days. One group kept as control and six different doses of plant extracts were administered to six groups simultaneously with CCl4 administration. The serum levels of ALT, AST and ALP, liver tissue glutathione and catalase activity as well as liver tissue microvesicular steatosis (MVS) and pericentral coagulation necrosis (PCN) were determined after three days. The serum ALT, AST and ALP and liver tissue MVS were significantly reduced in both the C. scolymus and C. intybus groups at the doses of 900 and 450 mg/kg/day respectively while liver tissue PCN significantly reduced in C. scolymus 900 mg/kg/day group only as compared to control group. In present study administration of the C. scolymus leaf (900 mg/kg/day) and C. intybus root (450 mg/kg/day) extracts ameliorated CCl4 induced rat serum liver enzyme changes and liver tissue histopathological damage.

Salvia limbata is an aromatic herbaceous plant and grows widely in Iran Turkey and Afghanistan. In the previous study, six flavones together with rosmarinic acid were isolated from the ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of S. limbata. In this report, we focused on the isolation and identification of the glycosylated sterols and the main accumulated amino acid of the species S. limbata, which has not been previously reported. Aerial parts of the plant were dried, cut into small pieces and extracted with ethyl acetate and methanol by percolation at room temperature. The separation process was carried out using several chromatographic methods. Structural elucidation was based on NMR data, in comparison with those reported in the literature. The isolated compounds (Figure 1) from the ethyl acetate and MeOH extracts of S. limbata were identified as beta-sitosterol (1), stigmasterol (2), daucosterol (3), stigmasterol 3- O-glucoside (4) and tryptophan (5) by comparison of their NMR spectral data with those reported in the literature S. limbata can accumulate the tryptophan as a major free amino acid together with sterols and their glucosides. Therefore, consumption of S. limbata (as a herbal tea or other preparations), which contains the essential amino acid tryptophan, might be useful for dietary deficiency of tryptophan.

Lead, an example of heavy metals, has, for decades, being known for its adverse effects on various body organs and systems such that their functions are compromised. In the present study, the ability of Lycopersicon esculentum on decrease toxic effects of lead acetate on plasma superoxide dismutase, catalase and malondialdehyde in Rat. Lead to adversely affect the Liver tissue apoptosis was investigated and Lycopersicon esculentum: Source of antioxidants was administered orally to prevent the adverse effects of Pb. Eighteen wistar rats, randomized into three groups (n = 6), were used for this study. Animals in Group A served as the control and was drinking distilled water. Animals in Groups B and C were drinking 1% Lead acetate (LA). Group C animals were, in addition to drinking LA, treated with 1.5 ml of Lycopersicon esculentum /day. All treatments were for 10 weeks. The obtained results showed that Pb caused a significant reduction in the liver weight, plasma and tissue superoxide dismutase and catalase activity, but a significant increase in plasma malondialdehyde concentration. These findings lead to the conclusion that Lycopersicon esculentum significantly lowered the adverse effects of Pb oxidative stress.

Medicinal plants (especially belong to Lamiaceae family) are potential sources of new drugs to improve the treatment of diseases whose treatment is associated to anti-oxidative agents. In this paper, the Ferric Reducing Ability of Plasma (FRAP) activity of some Lamiaceae and Apiaceae species, has been evaluated. Aerial parts of the plants were dried, cut into small pieces and extracted with ethyl acetate and methanol, respectively, by percolation at room temperature. Different concentrations of the plant extracts were investigated for antioxidant power using FRAP assay. The extracts showed a considerable antioxidant effect from 16.36 mmol of FeSO4/100 g dry plant equivalents in Scutellaria tornefortii (AcOEt extract) to 404.12 mmol of FeSO4/100 g dried plant in Salvia macrosiphon (MeOH extract). All the plant samples possessed antioxidant activity, while Salvia macrosiphon (MeOH extract), Pimpinella tragioides (MeOH extract) and Salvia limbata (AcOEt extract) showed significantly the highest results and Scutellaria tornefortii (AcOEt extract) showed the lowest power. Antioxidant activity of these species might be due to the presence of flavonoids, rosmarinic acid, coumarins even monoterpenes (like myrcene) in the plant extracts.

Nowadays, there's a growing demand for the natural antioxidants due to the harmful effects of synthetic antioxidants. Therefore, introduction of new natural antioxidants (especially those with plant origin) is very important. The present study explores the chemical constitution and antioxidant activity of leaf extract of Hyssopus officinalis L. and extract of aerial parts of Echinacea purpurea L., as two valuable natural antioxidants in soybean oil. Total phenolic content of the water extract of Hyssopus officinalis L. and Echinacea purpurea L. were determined by Folin–Ciocalteu method. The antioxidant activity (AOA) of these two extracts were evaluated with DPPH•, ABTS•+ and beta carotene bleaching (BCB) methods. Furthur, the oven tests including peroxide and thiobarbituric acid values were done at 70º C in soybean oil system. Total phenolic content of Hyssopus officinalis L. and Echinacea purpurea L. were 200 and 60 mg/g phenolic components (galic acid equivalent), respectively. In DPPH• test, EC50 value of Hyssopus officinalis L. and Echinacea purpurea L. were 35.6± 4.7 and 123.0± 10.9 ppm, respectively. In the oven test (in soybean oil), AOA of all concentrations of HOE was comparable to BHT and BHA at the concentration of 100 ppm. AOA of EPE was comparable to BHT at concentrations of 100 and 200 ppm, but lower than that of BHA. In all three DPPH•, ABTS•+ and beta carotene bleaching tests, the antioxidant activity of Hyssopus officinalis extract (HOE) was greater than that of Echinacea purpurea extract (EPE). The antioxidant activity of both extracts improved with increase of the concentration. Further, HOE and EPE were able to reduce the oxidation rate of soybean oil under conditions of the oven test at 70° C. Thus, these two extracts could be appropriate natural alternatives to synthetic antioxidants.

Marine algae, especially brown species, produce a wide range of metabolites with various biological activities. Since marine algae are rich source of dietary fibers, minerals, proteins, vitamins and phenolic components with antioxidant effect, in addition to the rule of oxidative stress in pathogenesis of chronic diseases, the aim of this study was to investigate possible antioxidant activity and total phenolic contents of three brown algae species (Sargassum swartzii, Cystoseira myrica, Colpomenia sinuosa) collected from Asaloye-Niband marine protected area of the Persian Gulf. Antioxidant activity and total phenolic contents of partitional fractions of Hexan, Chlorofrom (CHCL3), Ethylacetate (EtOAc) and Methanolic extract of the samples were studied. Total phenolic contents was measured using Folin-Ciocalteu method while ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay were used to study their antioxidant activity. MeOH -H2O and chloroform fractions of Sargassum swartzii were found to have the highest antioxidant activity as 73.92  12.3, 55.32 ± 4.8 mmol FeII per 100 g dried plant and total phenolic contents, 12.0  0.5, 11.05 ± 0.64 mg gallic acid equivalents per 100 g dried plant respectively. There was a significant Correlation (R2=0.999) between the antioxidant activity and total phenolic contents of MeOH-H2O fractions obtained from total extracts of these algae. It is recommended that these algae could be potential sources of natural antioxidants.

With the removal of antibiotic as growth promoters from poultry diets, it is of interest to investigate potential alternatives to maintain good growth performance and good intestinal microbial populations in these birds. Numerous additives such as Probiotics, prebiotics, organic acids, enzymes and herbal extracts used extensively in poultry feed. The study was conducted to investigate the effects of herbal extracts, probiotic, organic acid and antibiotic on serum lipids, immune response, intestinal morphology, microbial population and performance of broilers. A total of 300 day - old male broilers (Cobb 500) were randomly divided into four treatments, five replicates with 15 birds in each. Treatments included: control, herbal extracts (Sangrovit®), probiotic (Primalac®), organic acid (Termin-8®) and antibiotic (Virginiamycin). The highest weight gain (WG) were achieved by virginiamycin (

The increase in the use of herbal products is noticed all over the world. The safety of herbal drugs becomes particularly important in pregnant women and children. Despite the fact that available data are insufficient to justify herbal use during pregnancy, exposure to herbal products is frequent in these subjects. Some of the more complex reasons for preference of herbal medicine are associated with cultural and personal beliefs and philosophical views toward life and health. The present study was conducted to evaluate drug utilization pattern during pregnancy in Kazeroon, south of Iran. In all, 530 women fulfilling study inclusion criteria were interviewed at the postnatal ward of Valiasr hospital in Kazeroon, from September to October 2009. In all, 158 out of the 513 women (30.8%) had used herbal drugs during pregnancy. The most commonly used herbs in pregnancy in this study were Ammi, Saatar and Sweet Basil. The most usuall period of using herbal drugs was throughout the first trimester of pregnancy. There was no statistical difference between women using and those not using herbal drugs in pregnancy. In most instances, the women reported to have been recommended herbal drug use by family (87.3%). In spite of the fact that side effects and teratogenic potentials of most herbal products are poorly understood, indiscriminate use of herbal remedies in different forms is very rampant. Pregnancy care providers should be aware of the common herbal supplements used by women, and of the evidence regarding potential benefits or harm.

Safety and efficacy of the synthetic antioxidants used in the food industry are frequently questioned because such antioxidants are unstable and highly volatile, therefore, interest in finding naturally occurring antioxidants that have the potential to protect human beings from damage induced by oxidative stress has intensified. Bioactivities of Thymus daenensis and Anethum graveolens essential oils with special reference to their antioxidative properties are studied. Total phenolic content (TPC), lipid peroxidation inhibition (LPI), ferrous-ion chelating (FIC), superoxide anion and nitric oxide radical scavenging, and tyrosinase inhibition activities of the essential oils were determined. TPC of T. daenensis and A. graveolens oils were 644.07±6.79 and 174.91±2.05 mg GAE/100 g. T. daenensis and A. graveolens oils showed the highest LPI activity with FICs of 63.28±0.21 and 70.22±1.9 percent respectively. Superoxide anion and nitric oxide radical scavenging activities of the above oils had IC50 of 0.013, 0.001 and 0.005, 0.0014 mg, respectively. A. graveolens oil showed 6 fold higher anti - tyrosinase activity than T. daenensis oil. There was not correlation between lipid peroxidation or ferrous ion chelating activities with total phenolics implying that the oils contain chelating ligands. The effects of antioxidant phytochemicals in the biological systems are ascribed on their ability to scavenge radicals, chelating metals, activate the antioxidant enzymes, and to inhibit the oxidases. T. daenensis and A. graveolens oils have good commercial potential in both food processing and cosmetic industries.

Recent studies have indicated potential of saffron for applying in a wide variety of diseases such as psychiatric and neurologic disorders. The concurrent use of saffron with SSRIs can lead to reducing the dose of SSRIs. Saffron at a dose of 200 mg may change some hematological and biochemical parameters. The goal of this trial was to assess the safety of concomitant administration of saffron and SSRI in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Twenty adult outpatients between 18 to 55 years-old with the diagnosis of MDD who were receiving an SSRI for at least 1 month prior to the initiation of the study entered this double-blind trial. They were randomly assigned to receive capsule of saffron (15 mg twice daily) or placebo. Some laboratory parameters were measured at baseline and week 4 of the study. Other side effects checked on a prepared list of side effects, were systematically recorded throughout the study at baseline and on a weekly basis. Saffron as an add-on medication to SSRIs for 4 weeks did not cause any statistically significant changes in laboratory parameters including AST, ALT, ALP, BUN, Cr., FBS, TG, TC, WBC, RBC, Hgb, Ht, PT, INR, and Pl count. This preliminary study provides safety evidences of concurrent intake of saffron and SSRI.