Herbal Medicines Journal
Year:2017 | Volume:2 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:6

Background and Aim: In recent years there has been an increasing interest in herbal medicines and natural antioxidant products to be used as medicines and food additives. The present research identified the various antioxidative activities of ethanol and methanol extracts, and chemical composition of Stachys inflate Benth leaves essential oil.Materials and Methods: This experimental study was carried out in 2015 in Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. Ethanol and methanol extracts of Stachys inflata Benth leaves were primarily prepared. The total antioxidant capacity of samples was assessed by phosphomolybdate method. Total phenol content and total flavonoid content were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and Zhishen methods. The components of Stachys inflate Benth leaves essential oil were analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS).Results: It was demonstrated that the total antioxidant capacity of ethanol and methanol extracts of Stachys inflata Benth leaves were 4.30±0.17; 3.63±0.23 mg of ascorbic acid equivalents/g of extract. Moreover, the total phenol content ethanol and methanol extracts of Stachys inflata Benth leaves were 830.334±26.41; 384.29±13.37 mg of gallic acid equivalents /g of extract, and flavonoid content ethanol and methanol extracts of Stachys inflata Benth leaves were 17.09±0.154; 31.18±1.03 mg of quercetin equivalents /g of extract. GC/MS data and retention indices of Stachys inflate Benth leaves essential oil samples were used to identify 54 constituents. These compounds make up a total of 48.87 percent essential oil. Phenol, 2-methyl-5 (1-methyleth; Phenol, 5-methyl-2- (1methyleyth; 2-pentadecanone and hexadecanoic acid are the major compounds of Stachys inflate Benth leaves essential oil. This study indicated that Stachys inflate Benth leaves essential oil has remarkable antioxidant properties. Furthermore, Stachys inflate Benth leaves essential oil was identified as an easily accessible source of natural antioxidants such as Phenol, 2-methyl-5 (1-methyleth; Phenol, 5-methyl-2- (1methyleyth; 2-pentadecanone, 6, 10, 14-trimet; Veridi florol; 2-cycohexen-1-on, 2-methyl-5- and 1H-cycloprop[e]azulen-7-ol, dec. It may also be suitable to be used in food and pharmaceutical applications.Conclusion: This study demonstrated that Stachys inflata Benth leaves are easily accessible sources of natural antioxidants. Therefore, they may be suitable to be used in food and pharmaceutical applications.

Background and Aim: In the present study, the role of ethanolic extract of olive (Olea europaea) leaf administration against the cerebral hypoperfusion-induced electrophysiological alterations and left ventricular thickness in rat heart was studied.Materials and Methods: The right carotid artery was occluded with a 5-0 silk suture and the left carotid artery was occluded after a week. The olive (Olea europaea) leaf extract was administered orally (by gavage) to three experimental groups of rats in 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg/day for two weeks after the left carotid artery occlusion and processed in 25 days. The sham and hypoperfusion groups were fed with normal saline. Each group had 6 rats. After 25 days, electrophysiological heart parameters, i.e. HR, QTc, QRS duration, QT interval, PR interval, RR interval, ST amplitude, T wave amplitude and also the thickness of left ventricle (TLV) were assessed.Results: The administration of olive leaf extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) exhibited its cardioprotective effect by both stabilizing heart rate and preventing ECG changes (such as shortening of PR, QRS, QT and QTc intervals, prominent T waves and ST elevation). Moreover, olive leaf extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) prevented cardiac hypertrophy after cerebral hypoperfusion.Conclusion: Our results indicated that post-treatment with ethanolic extract of olive leaves could prove beneficial effects in managing the cerebral hypoperfusion-induced cardiac abnormality in rats.

Background and Aim: Diabetes mellitus and continued hyperglycemic condition prompt serious diabetic complications such as diabetic neuropathy. Numerous studies have shown the involvement of oxidative stress and high glucose-induced cell death in the progress of diabetic neuropathy. Rosmarinus officinalis L has been suggested in the literature as an anti-diabetic herbal medicine that contains potent antioxidant components. Therefore, the neuroprotective effect of Rosmarinus officinalis L (RE) extract was investigated in glucose-induced neurotoxicity via pheochromocytoma) PC12 (cells as an appropriate in vitro model of diabetic neuropathy.Materials and Methods: Cell viability was determined using MTT assay. Cleave caspase-3 and Bax: Bcl2 ratio, as biochemical parameters of cellular apoptosis, were measured by western blotting analysis.Results: Our data showed that a 4-fold elevation in the glucose in the medium significantly reduced cell viability (P<0.01) and increased caspase-3 activation (P<0.01) as well as Bax: Bcl2 ratio (P<0.05) in PC12 cells after 24 h. Incubation of high glucose medium cells with 60 mg/ml RE extract decreased high glucose-induced cell toxicity and prevented caspase-3 activation and Bax: Bcl2 ratio.Conclusion: It could be concluded that RE extract is effective in the protection against hyperglycemia-induced cellular toxicity. This could be relevant to the prevention of apoptosis. Moreover, the results suggest that RE has the therapeutic potential to attenuate diabetes complications such as that neuropathy.

Background and Aim: In this study we assessed the in vitro antileishmanial activity of myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) methanolic extract against Leishmania major.Materials and Methods: The in vitro antileishmanial effects of myrtle methanolic extract against L. major promastigote and amastigotes were determined by colorimetric cell viability (MTT) assay and macrophage model, respectively. The IC50 values were also calculated by probit test in SPSS software.Results: The obtained results showed that myrtle extract was significantly inhibited promastigote growth of L. major based on a dose and time dependent manner. The measured IC50 values for myrtle methanolic extract and MA as control drug against promastigote forms of L. major were 23.6 mg/mL and 88.3 mg/mL, respectively. The obtained IC50 values were 13.8 mg/mL and 44.6 mg/mL for the myrtle essential oil and MA, respectively.Conclusion: This investigation showed antileishmanial effect of myrtle against promastigote and amastigote forms of L. major. However, further studies are needed to confirm these results by checking in the animal models and volunteer human.

Escherichia coli is the gram negative bacilli of Entrobacteriaceae family that commonly found in intestinal infections and many infections outside the intestine, like urinary tract infections (UTI), cholecystitis, wound infections, meningitis, septicemia, pulmonary infections, and many more. Plants are rich sources of bioactive compounds, hence they can be effective in a wide variety of diseases. The pandemic spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria (i.e., extended-spectrum b-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBLPE). Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE),) threaten healthcare Worldwide. The present review is a report of the most effective medicinal plants against E. coli. In this research, the required online database searches were conducted using the key words such as bacteria, E. coli and medicinal plants. Databases of Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect were explored to find and explore related articles. Since the incidence of E. coli is high, the aim of this study is to identify and report anti E. coli medicinal plants in Iran. The obtained results showed that there were 51 medicinal herbs that could be considered as the main medicinal plants capable of affecting E. coli.

Dear Editor: We eagerly read the recent paper published by Gholijani N et al. entitled "The Suppression of Adjuvant-induced Inflammation and the Inhibition of the Serum and Tissue IL-17, TNF-a and IL-1b levels by Thymol and Carvacrol" in "Herb Med J". This study adequately indicated the anti-inflammatory properties of the two mentioned plant-derived compounds. Thus, the authors intend in this letter to point to a few important notes in confirming this study. Inflammation is a defensive mechanism in the body that removes or deactivates pathogens. Although it is beneficial for the body, inflammation can be harmful if it is induced without being controlled properly.