Advances in Traditional Medicine最新文献

Plant secondary metabolites have been gaining significant attention as potential cancer therapeutics in recent years. In several cases, these are present in plants that are commonly found in the surrounding environment. This study explores the anticancer properties of the methanolic extract of Oxalis corniculata, a common creeper plant known to have medicinal properties. The phytochemical characterization of the extract was performed by biochemical tests and gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GCMS). Cytotoxicity studies on the HCT-116 cell line have shown that the extract can inhibit cell proliferation with an IC₅₀ value of 119.498 µg/mL. Through molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation, it has been observed that two constituents of the extract namely Desulphosinigrin and d-Glycero-d-ido-heptose exhibit strong and specific interactions with the caspase binding site of the X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP). Thus, these compounds may be capable of inhibiting XIAP in the cellular environment, thereby promoting apoptosis, resulting in the death of cancer cells.

Opium Use Disorder (OUD) has the highest rate of opioid use disorder in Iran. The present study was designed to investigate the effect of Azaraghi Majoon (AM), a traditional Persian compound, on a rat model of OUD. AM was prepared from a combination of 14 herbs plus honey, standardized by strychnine and brucine using high-performance liquid chromatography, and administered by gavage. One hundred twenty male mice were used to investigate the effect of AM on the manifestations of opium withdrawal syndrome and craving for opium. Naloxone-precipitated withdrawal signs and conditioned place preference (CPP) test were used to assess the scopes mentioned above of OUD, respectively. A modified schedule of opium dependence was used to assess physical dependence (last for eight days). 50 mg/ml/kg intraperitoneal opium and 50, 100, or 150 mg/ml/kg gavaged AM in different groups were administered in the CPP paradigm. In the CPP test, treating opium-addicted animals with AM (50 and 150 mg/kg for time and 50, 100, and 150 mg/kg for frequency) resulted in the extinction of preference for drug compartments. Also, the administration of AM decreased the number of jumping, diarrhea, rearing, and grooming following naloxone-precipitated opium withdrawal signs. As AM could improve both physical and psychological withdrawal signs of opium use disorder in rats in this study, the authors suggest consideration of clinical trials to investigate possible beneficial effects of AM in OUD patients.

The concept of body constitution (BC) is a core notion in traditional Chinese medicine, used in diagnosis, treatment, and prevention; however, there is little standardization in terms of definitions and measurements. To improve standardization, constructive questionnaires have been developed to classify the various BC types. One of the most commonly used is the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ). Despite including nine BCs, CCMQ lacks the blood-vacuity constitution, although it is often noted in clinical practice. In this study, we have modified the original CCMQ to include the blood-vacuity constitution and amended the language to better suit the Taiwan population. The revised questionnaire was given to a panel of experts to check for content validity, and then distributed to volunteers for completion. The reliability analysis, based on 512 valid questionnaires, achieved a Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.65–0.86. The content validity index scores ranged from 60 to 100. In addition, we collected demographic data from our volunteers and found that BMI, gender, exercise frequency, disease status, allergies, and psychiatric disorder status may impact the body constitution. Collectively, our study presents an expanded version of the CCMQ which includes the blood-vacuity constitution, and has been validated among the Taiwanese population. Demographic data also demonstrates possible relationships among BC, lifestyle and diseases.

The current investigation compared the efficacy of an ethanol extract of B. racemosa L. leaf against standard bacterial and fungal cultures. Quantitative phytochemical analysis of Phenol, Flavonoid and Tanin was studied by the appropriate methods; Heavy metal test was done by Atomic Absorption Spectrometer; Antimicrobial activity was done by disc diffusion and agar well diffusion method; MIC through 96 well method and antioxidant assay was performed by DPPH and ABTS. Ethanol extract of B. racemosa L. showed significantly higher inhibitory effect against E. coli, S. aureus and B. cereus, and moderate antimicrobial activity against K. pneumoniae, but it was inactive on fungal strain at lower concentrations. The minimum bactericidal concentration of B. racemosa L. extract against the pathogenic bacteria tested was 1.25 mg/ml for P. aeruginosa, 2.5 mg/ml for E. coli and 5 mg/ml for B. cereus, K. pnuemoniae, and S. aureus. The extract has exhibited antioxidant activity which was evaluated by DPPH and ABTS as 61.61 ± 0.61 and 64.45 ± 0.49% of inhibition in 250 µg/ml concentration. Prominent phytochemical bioconstituents, as determined by phytochemical investigation, comprise flavonoids (8.712 ± 0.7 mg/g Rutin equivalents), tannins (2.930 ± 0.73 mg/g Tannic acid equivalents) and phenol (12.06 ± 0.25 mg/g Gallic acid equivalents) etc. Lethality experiment was performed by using brine shrimp to determine the cytotoxicity of plant extract and the substantial mortality rate observed as LC50 = 22.8435 µg/mL. The result of fluorescence analysis showed various shades of green and brown fluorescence in visible light and various shades of green, blue and brown were found under UV light. HPTLC, FTIR and GCMS were done to find out the bioactive phytocompounds.

Eucalyptus camaldulensis is a medicinal plant used as insect repellant and antimalarial agent in ethnomedicine. This study examined the antiplasmodial and larvicidal potential of E. camaldulensis leaf extract and also identified the plant extract's most active fraction(s). The acute oral toxicity test of the methanol extract was evaluated using Lorke’s method. The larvicidal assay was performed on the extract and partitioned fractions according to the 2005 World Health Organization guidelines, while the 4-day chemosuppressive and curative antimalarial assays were carried out against Plasmodium bergei bergei. Endosulphan and chloroquine (10 mg/kg) was used as the positive controls for the larvicidal and antiplasmodial assays, respectively, while tween 80 in normal saline (1%) was the negative control. The methanol leaf extract of EC showed good larvicidal activity across all tested concentrations (LC₅₀ 3.79 ± 0.64 mg/mL), while the aqueous fraction with LC₅₀ of 2.80 ± 0.14 mg/mL was the most active. Its acute toxicity test showed it was safe up to 5000 mg/kg. The extract significantly increased dose-dependent antiplasmodial activity for the chemosuppressive and curative models (p < 0.05) than the negative control. At 800 mg/kg, EC gave chemosuppressive (53.69 ± 1.62%) and curative (81.26 ± 1.87%) activities, which was significantly lower than that of 10 mg/kg chloroquine (82.00 ± 0.57% and 92.51 ± 0.22% respectively). The aqueous partitioned fraction gave the highest chemosuppression (73.84 ± 2.73%) at 80 mg/kg, which was comparable to the positive control. The methanol extract of E. camaldulensis leaf is a promising larvicidal and antimalarial agent that could proffer a solution to vector control and the prevalence of malaria.

The antimicrobial properties of the Melaleuca cajuputi plant have been documented. However, the underlying antimicrobial mechanisms remain relatively unexplored. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the antibacterial effects of M. cajuputi leaf extract against selected bacterial strains and unveil the potential antibacterial mechanisms of the most potent sub-fraction through time-kill assay, cell morphology studies, and molecular docking analysis. The fractions and sub-fractions were obtained from the methanolic extract of M. cajuputi leaf by bioassay-guided fractionation. The antibacterial activity was tested against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Escherichia coli using broth microdilution assay. The most potent sub-fraction, Melaleuca fraction 2d (MF2d), demonstrated remarkable antibacterial activity with MIC values ranging from 0.063 to 0.25 mg/mL and induced significant cellular damage against the tested bacteria. The chemical characterization of the most potent sub-fraction (MF2d) from methanolic extract of M. cajuputi leaf identified five (5) compounds with 2-isopropyl-10-methyl phenanthrene (83.09%) as the major component. In-silico molecular docking analysis revealed that all the docked ligands showed strong binding propensity towards target bacterial proteins, including DNA gyrase (PDB ID: 1ZI0), dihydropteroate synthase (PDB ID: 1AD1), and D-alanyl transferase (PDB ID: 6O93) with the binding energy ranging from − 6.0 to − 8.4 kcal/mol. The overall findings demonstrated the potential of the M. cajuputi plant as a valuable source of novel antibacterial agents.

In addition to stimulating specific acupoints, acupuncture uses manipulations with varying effects. For Dazhui acupoint, tonifying acupuncture clears heat, while dispersing acupuncture dissipates it. This study aims to compare changes in facial skin temperature caused by these techniques in healthy volunteers. The single-blinded, randomized controlled trial involved 57 healthy volunteers aged 18–30, undergoing three sessions of acupuncture with a one-week interval. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups with different acupuncture sequences: sham-tonifying-dispersing, tonifying-dispersing-sham, and dispersing-sham-tonifying. Acupuncture sessions lasted 30 min, and facial skin temperatures were measured at five time points using a FLIR C5 thermal camera. We recorded that tonifying acupuncture at the Dazhui acupoint led to a significant increase from 34.30 °C (33.65–35.20 °C) to 35.40 °C (34.85–35.85 °C) in facial skin temperature while dispersing acupuncture led to a significant decrease from 34.90 °C (33.95–35.65 °C) to 34.00 °C (33.00–34.75 °C). Compared to the sham group, both tonifying and dispersing acupuncture showed significant differences in skin temperature. The variation in skin temperature between tonifying and dispersing acupuncture was also statistically significant. These results show that acupuncture at the Dazhui acupoint can influence facial skin temperature, establishing a relationship between this acupoint and facial physiology. Moreover, the contrasting skin temperature responses to tonifying and dispersing acupuncture techniques at Dazhui validate their distinct physiological effects.

Searching for cholinesterase (ChE) inhibitory small molecules will open a new horizon to design eco-friendly antiinsectants and anti-Alzheimer’s disease agents since we encounter to drug resistance against available drugs/toxins. Here, the ChE inhibitory activity of methyl alcohol extracts of Ricinus communis L. (RC) has been investigated in vitro and its mechanism was mined computationally. The beans of RC showed anti-ChE properties for acetyl-ChE (AChE) of 65.33% and for butyryl-ChE (BChE) of 49.00%. The methyl alcohol extract of RC leaves showed lesser inhibitory effects of 27.67% for AChE than 5.67% for BChE. In silico findings showed that among phytochemicals found in RC, stigmasterol oleate, fucosterol, trachylobane, lupeol, casbene, and alpha-amyrin have a trustful binding affinity (BA) of − 12.2, − 11.9, − 10.6, − 10.4, − 10.2, and − 9.9 kcal/mol with AChE, respectively, while beta-tocopherol, beyerene and kaurene have same negative BA − 9.8 kcal/mol. Alpha-tocopherol and gamma-tocopherol showed identical BA of − 9.6 kcal/mol. In this regard, delta-tocopherol and beta-amyrin showed BA of − 9.5 (kcal/mol), therefore all phytochemicals may be considered putative binders of AChE. In this line, alpha- and beta-amyrin, lupeol, stigmasterol oleate, fucosterol, casbene, beyerene, and catechin found in RC showed greater BA of − 11.3, − 11, − 10.7, − 9.6, − 9.6, − 9.5, − 9.3, and − 9 kcal/mol while alpha-tocopherol, kaurene, and trachylobane have identical BA at − 8.8 kcal/mol, therefore, they may inhibit BChE. In sum, RC can be considered as a natural factory of anti-ChE lead-like molecules that was gifted by Mesopotamian medicine and Kurdish ethnomedicine to the modern biopharmaceuticals.

This study aims to explore previously overlooked facets of the commercialization and utilization of medicinal plants and their derivatives in the "Botica Real" (Royal Apothecary) from 1806 to 1818. Using primary sources from the National Library of Brazil, the National Archives, the Brazilian Historical and Geographic Institute, and online newspaper libraries, a thorough document analysis was conducted. Key documents include the "Regimento dos preços dos medicamentos símplices, preparados e compostos", lists of shipments from the “Botica Real” in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro (Brazilian states), "Post-mortem Inventories" of merchants, and the "Pharmacopoeia Geral para o Reino e Domínios de Portugal". The examination of these documents unveiled terms related to medicinal species, their scientific names, parts used, and application methods. These terms were categorized by their origin (animal, vegetable, or mineral), with a particular focus on plant species, where botanical nomenclature was updated. The research highlighted an evolution in the number of terms associated with medicinal plants, increasing from 219 in 1806 to 303 in 1818, with a total of 156 identified species across 58 botanical families. Notably, Lamiaceae had 15 species, followed by Asteraceae (14) and Fabaceae (12). Exotic species constituted 85%, while naturalized and native Brazilian species comprised 9% and 5%, respectively. The study documented various pharmaceutical preparations, predominantly in solid, liquid, and semi-solid forms, with spirits, elixirs, and solutions being the most common, along with tinctures, fluid extracts, and compounded powders. This historical survey not only sheds light on past pharmaceutical practices with medicinal plants but also offers valuable insights for contemporary phytotherapy.

Graphical abstract