Journal of Intercultural Ethnopharmacology

AIM: The aim of this clinical study is to provide scientific evidence for supporting traditional Chinese application and usage to the patients. For this purpose, we tested the ability if Panax ginseng extract to lower oxidative damage to nuclear DNA in human lymphocytes by comparing the effect of cooked Chinese turnip on this effect. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seven healthy subjects (4 males and 3 females from 37 to 60 years) participated two occasions which were at least 2 weeks apart...

BACKGROUND/AIM: This study aimed to document and analyzes the local knowledge of medicinal plants' use by traditional healers in South-west Algeria. METHODS: The ethnobotanical survey was conducted in two Saharian regions of South-west of Algeria: Adrar and Bechar. In total, 22 local traditional healers were interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire and open questions. Use value (UV), fidelity level (FL), and informant consensus factor (FIC) were used to analyze the obtained data...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

The population residing Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) continues to suffer from communicable health problems such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and various neglected tropical as well as non-communicable diseases. The disease burden is aggravated by shortage of medical personnel and medical supplies such as medical devices and minimal access to essential medicine. For long time, human beings through observation and practical experiences learned to use different plant species that led to the emergence of traditional medicine (TM) systems...

Propolis and royal jelly (RJ), two important honeybee products, have been used commonly all over the world as traditional and ethnopharmacological nutrients since ancient times. Both of them have a lot of active ingredients which are known to be effective for several medical conditions. In this article, medical databases were searched for the usage of RJ and propolis in upper respiratory tract infections (URTI) and as a dietary supplementation, together and separately. 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid is the most prominent active compound showing antimicrobial effect within RJ...

Diarrhea is a serious problem affecting 3-5 billion people per year around the world, especially children of below 5 years. 70% of the world population uses traditional and indigenous medicine for their primary health care. The facts of these indigenous remedies are passed verbally and sometimes as documents. Since ancient time, Ayurveda is the main system of healing in South East Asian countries. Indian literature from ayurvedic texts and other books claim the potency of several plants in the treatment of diarrhea...

Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is an integral component of complementary/alternative medicine and it is increasingly becoming the preferred therapeutic modality for the treatment of liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) worldwide. Accordingly, the World Health Organization (WHO) has attested to the popularity and efficacy of indigenous herbal therapies including CHM as a first line of treatment for some diseases including liver disorders. However, the WHO and drug discovery experts have always recommended that use of indigenous herbal remedies must go hand-in-hand with the requisite mechanistic elucidation so as to constitute a system of verification of efficacy within the ethnobotanical context of use...

AIM: Withania somnifera root (WSR) extracts are often used in traditionally known Indian systems of medicine for prevention and cure of psychosomatic disorders. The reported experiment was designed to test whether low daily oral doses of such extracts are also effective in suppressing marble burying behavior in stressed mice or not. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Groups of mice treated with 10, 20, or 40 mg/kg daily oral doses of WSR were subjected to a foot shock stress-induced hyperthermia test on the 1(st), 5(th), 7(th), and 10(th) day of the experiment...

BACKGROUND: Effective long-term management is the key to treatment of diabetes mellitus (DM) and its complications. AIM: To ascertain the ability of cryptolepine (CRP) in managing DM and some associated complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Changes in fasting blood sugar (FBS), body weight, response to thermally-induced pain, and semen quality were assessed in normal and alloxan-induced diabetic rats treated with CRP (10, 30, or 100 mg/kg), glibenclamide (10 mg/kg), or normal saline (2 ml/kg) per os...

AIM: The principle objective of the study was to explore the anti-arthritic properties of Acmella uliginosa (AU) (Sw.) Cass. flower in a rat model and to identify potential anti-inflammatory compounds derived from flower extracts. The synergistic role played by a combination of AU flower and Aloe vera (AV) gel crude extracts was also investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Wistar rats induced with Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) were used as a disease model of arthritic paw swelling...

BACKGROUND: Currently, there is an increasing interest in developing more efficient techniques for the extraction of phytochemicals. Microwaves and ultrasonic extraction methods are promising techniques that can be used for this purpose. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of different extraction methods on yield, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of volatile oil extracted from Trichodesma africanum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Volatile oil was extracted using microwave, ultrasonic, microwave-ultrasonic, and conventional hydrodistillation methods...

AIM: Coconut water is a natural beverage that is a part of daily diet of many people. This study was designed to explore the anti-inflammatory activity of coconut water of different maturation stages (young and mature) with rat paw edema model of inflammation using plethysmometer. METHODOLOGY: For this study, albino rats were selected and divided into four equal groups (10 rats in each group). Group 1 was set as control and administered distilled water 1 ml orally; Groups 2 and 3 were treated with young and mature coconut water, respectively, at 4 ml/100 g dose orally...

AIM: Euphorbia hirta is the most widely used plant in the folkloric treatment of dengue in the Philippines. This study documents the anecdotal uses of E. hirta in the treatment of dengue in 3 indigenous communities in Pangasinan from April to June of 2015. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The number of use reports pertaining to symptoms of dengue and other diseases were tallied from 82 informants living in Anda Island, Mt. Colisao and Mt. Balungao. The demographics of the informants as well as the corrected major use agreements (cMUAs) and fidelity levels (FLs) of each reported symptom of dengue were calculated...

OBJECTIVE: According to our previous studies, propolis of Nigerian origin showed some evidence of hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic activities in addition to its ability to ameliorate oxidative-stress-induced organ dysfunction. This study was carried out to determine whether an ethanolic extract of Nigerian propolis (EENP) improves glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) concentrations in rats that have alloxan diabetes...

BACKGROUND/AIM: Clerodendrum myricoides is a Kenyan herbal plant used in the management of respiratory diseases. In the current study, we investigated in vitro antimicrobial activity, cytotoxicity, and phytochemical screening of C. myricoides. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Antimicrobial activities of C. myricoides organic fractions against array of microorganisms including: (i) Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) H37Rv, (ii) Staphylococcus aureus, (iii) Klebsiella pneumoniae, (iv) Escherichia coli, (v) Candida albicans, (vi) Pseudomonas aeruginosa, (vii) Cryptococcus neoformans, (viii) Salmonella typhi, (ix) Shigella sonnei, and (x) Methicillin-resistant S...

AIM: At least seven North American tribes specifically mention the use of Eryngium (typically roots) as an anti-snake venom therapy. As snake envenomation is an endemic, life-threatening medical risk, is there a scientific basis for the Native American ethnomedicine? Could this be demonstrated in an assay amenable to mechanistic evaluation and high throughput screening for later isolation and possible evaluation as a source for a lead drug? MATERIALS AND METHODS: Proteases, mainly metalloproteases, are thought to be the main pathological agents in most American snake venoms...

AIM/BACKGROUND: The emergence of drug-resistant pathogens has drawn attention on medicinal plants for potential antimicrobial properties. The objective of the present study was the investigation of the antimicrobial activity of five plant essential oils on multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Basil, chamomile blue, origanum, thyme, and tea tree oil were tested against clinical isolates of Acinetobacter baumannii (n = 6), Escherichia coli (n = 4), Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 7), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n = 5) using the broth macrodilution method...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

In India, the term "Amarkand" is commonly used for around 30 different plant species belonging to genus Eulophia (Orchidaceae). This single local name Amarkand to different taxonomical species creates uncertainty about its ethnomedical and nutritional claims. In the present article, we have reviewed available literature regarding ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, taxonomy, nutritional, and pharmacological studies of different Amarkand species. The literature was searched using Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases...