Herbal Abstracts from Medline

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C Jagetia G. Radioprotective Potential of Plants and Herbs against the

Effects of Ionizing Radiation. Department of Radiobiology, Kasturba Medical

College, Manipal-576 104, India. J Clin Biochem Nutr. 2007 Mar;40(2):74-

81. Ionizing radiations produce deleterious effects in the living organisms

and the rapid technological advancement has increased human exposure to

ionizing radiations enormously. There is a need to protect humans against

such effects of ionizing radiation. Attempts to protect against the deleterious

effects of ionizing radiations by pharmacological intervention were made as

early as 1949 and efforts are continued to search radioprotectors, which

may be of great help for human application. This review mainly dwells on the

radioprotective potential of plant and herbal extracts. The results obtained

from in vitro and in vivo studies indicate that several botanicals such as

Gingko biloba, Centella asiatica, Hippophae rhamnoides, Ocimum sanctum,

Panax ginseng, Podophyllum hexandrum, Amaranthus paniculatus, Emblica

officinalis, Phyllanthus amarus, Piper longum, Tinospora cordifoila, Mentha

arvensis, Mentha piperita, Syzygium cumini, Zingiber officinale, Ageratum

conyzoides, Aegle marmelos and Aphanamixis polystachya protect against

radiation-induced lethality, lipid peroxidation and DNA damage. The

fractionation-guided evaluation may help to develop new radioprotectors of

desired activities. PMID: 18188408 [PubMed - in process]

 

Shaik YB, Castellani ML, Perrella A, Conti F, Salini V, Tete S, Madhappan B,

Vecchiet J, De Lutiis MA, Caraffa A, Cerulli G. Role of quercetin (a natural

herbal compound) in allergy and inflammation. J Biol Regul Homeost

Agents. 2006 Jul-Dec;20(3-4):47-52. Department of Medicine, Section of

Infectious Diseases, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA,

USA. An investigated flavonoid, quercetin, is reviewed in this article.

Quercetin is a bioflavonoid found in red wine, grapefruit, onions, apples,

black tea, and, in lesser amounts, in leafy green vegetables and beans.

Quercetin has an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and prevents

cancer. Quercitin inhibits the growth of certain malignant cells in vitro, and

histamine and most cyclin-dependent kinases and also displays unique

anticancer properties. Quercetin is a natural compound that blocks

substances involved in allergies and is able to act as an inhibitor of mast cell

secretion, causes a decrease in the release of tryptase, MCP-1 and IL-6 and

the down-regulation of histidine decarboxylase (HDC) mRNA from few mast

cell lines. Quercetin is a safe, natural therapy that may be used as primary

therapy or in conjunction with conventional methods. PMID: 18187018

[PubMed - in process]

 

Liu CS, Cham TM, Yang CH, Chang HW, Chen CH, Chuang LY.

Antibacterial Properties of Chinese Herbal Medicines against Nosocomial

Antibiotic Resistant Strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Taiwan. Am J

Chin Med. 2007;35(6):1047-60. Graduate Institute of Pharmaceutical

Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 80708, Taiwan.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is well-recognized as a nosocomial pathogen,

which exhibits inherent drug resistance. In this study, the antibacterial

activity of ethanol extracts of 58 Chinese herbal medicines used in Taiwan

were tested against 89 nosocomial antibiotic resistant strains of

Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The results gathered by the disc diffusion

method showed that 26 out of the 58 herbal extracts exhibited antibacterial

activity. Among the 26 herbal extracts, 10 extracts showed broad-spectrum

antibacterial activities and were selected for further antibacterial property

assay. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the active partition

fractions ranged from 0.25 to 11.0 mg/L. The presence of flavonoid

compounds in the active fractions of test herbal extracts was observed by

the TLC-bioautography. The results from the time-kill assay revealed that

most of the herbal extracts completely killed the test organisms within 4

hours. Exposure of the test strains to a sub-MIC level of the herbal extracts

for 10 consecutive subcultures did not induce resistance to the active

components. A combination of the active herbal fractions with antibiotics

showed that one of the herbal medicines, the hexane fraction of Ramulus

Cinnamomi, possessed a synergistic effect with tetracycline, gentamycin,

and streptomycin. In conclusion, the tested Chinese medical herbs have the

potential to be developed into natural antibiotics. This is the first evaluation

for screening large amounts of medical plants against nosocomial antibiotic

resistant bacteria in Taiwan. PMID: 18186590 [PubMed - in process]

 

Chang HF, Lin YH, Chu CC, Wu SJ, Tsai YH, Chao JC. Protective Effects of

Ginkgo biloba, Panax ginseng, and Schizandra chinensis Extract on Liver

Injury in Rats. Am J Chin Med. 2007;35(6):995-1009. School of Nutrition

and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei 110, Taiwan. This

study investigated the effects of the combined extracts of Ginkgo biloba,

Panax ginseng, and Schizandra chinensis at different doses on hepatic

antioxidant status and fibrosis in rats with carbon tetrachloride (CCl(4))-

induced liver injury. Male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 8-12 per group) were

divided into the control, CCl(4), CCl(4) + silymarin (0.35%), CCl(4) + low-

dose herbal extract (0.24% of Ginkgo biloba, Panax ginseng, and

Schizandra chinensis extract at 1:1:1; LE), and CCl(4) + high-dose herbal

extract (1.20% of the same herbal extract; HE) groups. Silymarin or herbal

extract was orally given to rats a week before chronic intraperitoneal

injection with CCl(4) for 6 weeks. The pathological results showed that

herbal extract suppressed hepatic bile duct proliferation, and low-dose

herbal extract inhibited liver fibrosis. Hepatic superoxide dismutase (SOD)

activity was lower in the CCl(4) group, but there was no difference in the

silymarin or herbal extract treated groups compared to the control group.

Hepatic catalase activity and the ratio of reduced to oxidized glutathione

were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the HE group than those in the CCl(4)

group. Silymarin and herbal extract reversed the impaired hepatic total

antioxidant status (p < 0.05). Herbal extract partially reduced the elevated

hepatic lipid peroxides. Hepatic transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-

beta1) level decreased significantly (p < 0.05) in the LE group. Therefore,

high-dose herbal extract improved hepatic antioxidant capacity through

enhancing catalase activity and glutathione redox status, whereas low-dose

herbal extract inhibited liver fibrosis through decreasing hepatic TGF-beta1

level in rats with CCl(4)-induced liver injury. PMID: 18186586 [PubMed - in

process]