Towards the scientific validation of traditional medicinal plants

A large proportion of the population of developing countries usestraditional medicine alone, or in combination with Western drugs to treat awide variety of ailments. There has seldom been effective collaborationbetween the traditional and Western medical practitioners, largely due tothe perception that the use of traditional and herbal medicines has noscientific basis. With the renewed interest from Western countries in herbalremedies, and the increasingly urgent need to develop new effective drugs,traditionally used medicinal plants have recently received the attention ofthe pharmaceutical and scientific communities. This involves the isolationand identification of the secondary metabolites produced by the plants andused as the active principles in medical preparations. Research into thescientific validation of southern African medicinal plants used in thetreatment of pain and inflammation, hypertension and parasitic diseasesincluding those with anthelmintic, anti-amoebic, anti-bacterial and anti-bilharzia activity, is the current focus of studies conducted at the ResearchCentre for Plant Growth and Development.     

Paleomedicine and the use of plant secondary compounds in the Paleolithic and Early Neolithic

Reconstructing plant use before domestication is challenging due to a lack of evidence. Yet, on the small number of sites with assemblages, the wide range of different plant species cannot be explained simply in terms of nutrition. Assemblages from the Lower Paleolithic to the Early Neolithic were examined to investigate the relative edible and medicinal properties of the plants. The assemblages contain a mixture of edible species, plants that are both edible and medicinal, and plants with only medicinal properties. The proportion of medicinal plants at all sites is well above the natural average and increases over time. Mechanisms for preventing intestinal parasitic infections are common among animals and together with chimpanzees’ preventative and curative self‐medication practices suggest an evolutionary context for this behavior. A broad‐spectrum approach to plant collection is likely to have been in place throughout the Paleolithic driven, in part, by the need for medicinal compounds.     

Melatonin in Chinese medicinal herbs

Melatonin is a highly conserved molecule that not only exists in animals, but also is present in bacteria, unicellular organisms and in plants. Since melatonin is an antioxidant, in plants melatonin was speculated to protect them from intrinsic and environmental oxidative stress. More importantly, melatonin in edible plants inevitably enters animals and human through feed and food. In this study, more than 100 Chinese medicinal herbs were analyzed using the methods of solid phase extraction and HPLC-FD on-line with MS to determine whether melatonin is present in these commonly used herbs. Melatonin was detected in majority of these plants. Sixty-four of them contain melatonin in excess of 10 ng per gram dry mass. Melatonin levels in several herbs are in excess of 1000 ng/g. It is well known that normal average physiological plasma levels of melatonin are only 10-60 pg/mL. These high level-melatonin containing plants are traditionally used to treat diseases which presumably involve free radical damage. The current study provides new information concerning one potentially effective constituent present in a large number of medicinal herbs. The results suggest that these herbs should be reevaluated in reference to their nutritional and medicinal value.     

Analysis of genetic relations and evaluation of medicinal value among Hedera plants in China by sequence related amplified polymorphism markers and high performance liquid chromatography detection

Hedera plants are ornamental vines which are regarded as traditional medicinal plants. These plants are widely cultivated worldwide; moreover, new species and varieties have been discovered. For the first time, molecular markers based on sequence-related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) were used in this study to classify species and to analyse the genetic relationship of 21 Hedera plant varieties which are commonly cultivated in China. We also employed high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to evaluate the medicinal value of these plants by measuring their hederacoside C contents. Results of SRAP–PCR and cluster analyses show that the SRAP molecular markers can successfully be applied in Hedera plants and are available. In addition, HPLC detection results indicate that the Chinese wild species in group I contain less than 30 mg/g hederacoside C and do not comply with the European Pharmacopoeia standards. By contrast, groups II and III exhibit high medicinal value and accord with these standards.     

Medicinal plants as a fight against murine blood-stage malaria

ObjectiveMalaria is an infectious parasitic disease affecting most of countries worldwide. Due to antimalarial drug resistance, researchers are seeking to find another safe efficient source for treatment of malaria. Since many years ago, medicinal plants were widely used for the treatment of several diseases. In general, most application is done first on experimental animals then human. In this article, medicinal plants as antimalarial agents in experimental animals were reviewed from January 2000 until November 2020.Materials and methodsIn this systematic review published articles were reviewed using the electronic databases NCBI, ISI Web of knowledge, ScienceDirect and Saudi digital library to check articles and theses for M.Sc/Ph.D. The name of the medicinal plant with its taxon ID and family, the used Plasmodium species, plant part used and its extract type and the country of harvest were described.Results and conclusionThe reviewed plants belonged to 83 families. Medicinal plants of families Asteraceae, Meliaceae Fabaceae and Lamiaceae are the most abundant for use in laboratory animal antimalarial studies. According to region, published articles from 33 different countries were reviewed. Most of malaria published articles are from Africa especially Nigeria and Ethiopia. Leaves were the most common plant part used for the experimental malaria research. In many regions, research using medicinal plants to eliminate parasites and as a defensive tool is popular.     

安徽九华山药用资源及评价体系初探

在野外调查、民间访问和查阅大量资料的基础上,全面系统地整理出安徽九华山药用资源(包括药用植物、动物以及矿物);初步建立了以蕴藏系数、保护缓急程度等6项指标在内的定量评析珍稀药材的指标体系。结果表明：九华山有药用植物约810种(包括种级以下单位)、药用动物约90种、药用矿物5种。根据所拟订的定量评析指标体系,银杏、金钱松、杜仲、短萼黄连、明党参、金刚大、霍山石斛为急需保护的物种,凹叶厚朴、天麻为需要保护物种。     

Adaptive mechanisms of medicinal plants along altitude gradient: contribution of proteomics

Medicinal plants are a rich source of secondary metabolites extensively used in traditional health care systems. High altitude biodiversity encompasses the diversified and valuable medicinal plant species. The extreme environmental conditions of high altitude region viz. fluctuating temperatures, high UV radiation, salinity, low oxygen concentration, and high wind velocity limits the plant growth and distribution. Yet, how medicinal plants respond to these extreme conditions is not sufficiently understood. Therefore, addressing plant acclimation to different stresses presents an opportunity to unravel adaptive mechanism of medicinal plants along altitude gradient. This article reviews the recently published research that highlights the major role of proteins in plant adaptation to extreme environmental conditions. In the last few decades, climate change has made a profound impact on high altitude plants. Stress conditions alter cellular homeostasis of plants. With the advent of proteomics, it has become evident that stresses induce changes in proteome by synthesis/expression of novel stress responsive proteins. These proteins constitute a highly organized, complex network that leads to changes in the molecular, biochemical, physiological, and morphological responses of plants. Herein, we comprehensively discuss the proteomics of medicinal plants and its role in adaptation along altitude gradient. This review aims to provide impetus to current research in medicinal plants ranging from developmental to stress biology and to generate basis for genetic engineers and plant breeders to produce next-generation medicinal plants.     

Natural products against hematological malignancies and identification of their targets

Naturally occurring molecules derived from higher plants, animals, microorganisms and minerals play an important role in the discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents. The identification of molecular targets is of interest to elucidate the mode of action of these compounds, and it may be employed to set up target-based assays and allow structure-activity relationship studies to guide medicinal chemistry efforts toward lead optimization. In recent years, plant-derived natural compounds possessing potential anti-tumor activities have been garnering much interest and efforts are underway to identify their molecular targets. Here, we attempt to summarize the discoveries of several natural compounds with activities against hematological malignancies, such as adenanthin, oridonin, gambogic acid and wogonoside, the identification of their targets, and their modes of actions.     

Melatonin as an Endogenous Plant Regulatory Signal: Debates and Perspectives

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) exists in plants, although it is commonly known as a neurohormone in animals. Indeed, the melatonin level is very high in some medicinal plants and changes developmental stage specifically, indicating that it plays specific physiological roles. Plant melatonin may play unique roles in plants as well as similar functions in animals. Furthermore, exogenously applied melatonin affects developmental processes during both vegetative and reproductive growth. In this study, current knowledge regarding plant melatonin is reviewed and its implications and problems are discussed.     

Hypoglycemic potential of Morus indica. L and Costus igneus. Nak.--a preliminary study

Powdered leaves (500 mg/kg body weight) of medicinal plants M. indica and C. igneus known to possess therapeutic effect were supplemented to streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. Leaf powders of both the plants were able to reduce blood glucose levels in the animals by 38 and 21% respectively after 15 days of supplementation. The preliminary results suggest that both the plants possess potent hypoglycemic activity.     

Positive allelopathic stimulation and underlying molecular mechanism of achyranthe under continuous monoculture

Three experiments were conducted to study the allelopathic stimulation and its underlying molecular mechanism of achyranthes medicinal plants in continuously monoculture system. The stimulators in the rhizospheric soil of continuously monocultured achyranthes plants were extracted by water and organic solvents. Results of the bioassay showed that the rhizospheric soil extracts had a significant promotive effect on the growth of achyranthes in continuous monoculture system, implying that the extracts, especially the water extracts might contain plant activators to stimulate the growth of the medicinal plants. Subtractive hybridization suppression (SSH) was used to investigate gene expression profiles of achyranthes in response to the extract treatments. Ten up-regulated genes from SSH-cDNA library were sequenced and assigned. Results indicated that flavonoids and phytosterol might play an important role in the positively allelopathic stimulation on achyranthes plants in continuous monoculture system. Comparative proteomics were employed to further unveil the molecular mechanism of allelopathic stimulation induced by the extracts. Compared with protein expression profile in control, 25 differentially expressed proteins and their functions were detected and identified in the treated plants. The results suggested that the extracts from continuously monocultured rhizospheric soils under Chinese medicinal achyranthes activated the genes encoding the key enzymes involved in terpenes and flavonoids synthesis, which in turn led to increased de novo synthesis of the stimulators, and hence promoted growth of achyranthes in consecutively monoculture system.     

冬凌草素抗肿瘤机制研究进展

冬凌草是一种颇具研究价值的药用植物,其有效活性成分冬凌草甲素、乙素具有多种药理作用,尤其是抗肿瘤活性。本文拟对其化学成分、药理作用和抗肿瘤分子机制研究方面作一综述,冬凌草的药用价值值得进一步研究、开发、利用。     

Molecular markers in medicinal plant biotechnology: past and present

Plant based medicines have gained popularity worldwide due to their almost negligible side effects. In India, the three traditional medicinal systems, namely homeopathy, Ayurveda and Siddha rely heavily on plants for medicinal formulations. To prevent the indiscriminate collection of these valuable medicinal plants and for their proper authentication and conservation, it is imperative to go for sustained efforts towards proper germplasm cataloguing and devising conservation strategies. For this purpose, molecular markers have a significant role, as they provide information ranging from diversity at nucleotide level (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to gene and allele frequencies (genotype information), the extent and distribution of genetic diversity, and population structure. Over the past twenty years, the molecular marker field has completely transformed the meaning of conservation genetics which has emerged from a theory-based field of population biology to a full-fledged pragmatic discipline. In this review, we have explored the transition and transformation of molecular marker technologies throughout these years.     

Molecular markers in medicinal plant biotechnology: past and present

Plant based medicines have gained popularity worldwide due to their almost negligible side effects. In India, the three traditional medicinal systems, namely homeopathy, Ayurveda and Siddha rely heavily on plants for medicinal formulations. To prevent the indiscriminate collection of these valuable medicinal plants and for their proper authentication and conservation, it is imperative to go for sustained efforts towards proper germplasm cataloguing and devising conservation strategies. For this purpose, molecular markers have a significant role, as they provide information ranging from diversity at nucleotide level (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to gene and allele frequencies (genotype information), the extent and distribution of genetic diversity, and population structure. Over the past twenty years, the molecular marker field has completely transformed the meaning of conservation genetics which has emerged from a theory-based field of population biology to a full-fledged pragmatic discipline. In this review, we have explored the transition and transformation of molecular marker technologies throughout these years.     

新疆巩乃斯沟药用植物资源多样性研究

从数量、生活型、药用部位等方面对巩乃斯沟药用植物多样性进行了研究。巩乃斯沟的药用植物资源具有丰富的多样性,共有野生药用植物54科260多种,分别占伊犁河谷地区药用植物科、种数的54.54%和46.34%。其中珍稀濒危药用种子植物21种,新疆道地药材8种,蒙医药地道药材38种;多年生草本类型占该区药用种子植物总数的70%以上;全草类和根类药用植物最多,分别占该区药用种子植物总数的50.84%和21.40%,大多数种类属于北温带分布区类型;优势科主要有菊科、蔷薇科、毛茛科和豆科,优势属主要有蒿属,毛茛属和委陵菜属。本文提出了保护和开发利用的具体建议。     

Chemical Features of Medicinal Plants (Review)

Data on chemical composition related to the synthesis of physiologically active substances (alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, etc.) and to the accumulation of individual elements or groups of five to ten elements (e.g., Cr, Co, Mn, and Zn) in medicinal plants were reviewed. Chemical features of medicinal plants serve as an integral determinant of their species specificity and pharmacological properties and enable their wide use in medical practice. The relationship between the synthesis of physiologically active substances and accumulation of elements is mediated by several levels of molecular regulation.     

Chemistry of medicinal plants (review)]

Data on the chemical composition related to synthesis of physiologically active substances (alkaloids, terpenoids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, etc.), and accumulation of individual elements or groups of five to ten elements (e.g., Cr, Co, Mn, and Zn) in medicinal plants were reviewed. Chemical features of medicinal plants serve as an integral determinant of their species specificity and pharmacological properties and enabling their wide use in medical practice. The relationship between the synthesis of physiologically active substances and accumulation of elements is mediated by several levels of molecular regulation.