Inventory of plants used in traditional medicine in Somalia. II. Plants of the families Combretaceae to Labiatae

Fifty-nine plants are listed, which are used by traditional healers in the central and southern parts of Somalia. For each species are listed: the botanical name with synonyms, collection number, vernacular name, medicinal use, preparation of remedy and dosage. Results of a literature survey are also reported including medicinal use, substances isolated and pharmacological effects.     

Medicinal plants in Mexico: healers' consensus and cultural importance

Medicinal plants are an important element of indigenous medical systems in Mexico. These resources are usually regarded as part of a culture's traditional knowledge. This study examines the use of medicinal plants in four indigenous groups of Mexican Indians, Maya, Nahua, Zapotec and - for comparative purposes - Mixe. With the first three the methodology was similar, making a direct comparison of the results possible. In these studies, the relative importance of a medicinal plant within a culture is documented using a quantitative method. For the analysis the uses were grouped into 9-10 categories of indigenous uses. This report compares these data and uses the concept of informant consensus originally developed by Trotter and Logan for analysis. This indicates how homogenous the ethnobotanical information is. Generally the factor is high for gastrointestinal illnesses and for culture bound syndromes. While the species used by the 3 indigenous groups vary, the data indicate that there exist well-defined criteria specific for each culture which lead to the selection of a plant as a medicine. A large number of species are used for gastrointestinal illnesses by two or more of the indigenous groups. At least in this case, the multiple transfer of species and their uses within Mexico seems to be an important reason for the widespread use of a species. Medicinal plants in other categories (e.g. skin diseases) are usually known only in one culture and seem to be part of its traditional knowledge.     

Bcl-2 inhibits cell death of serum-free mouse embryo cells caused by epidermal growth factor deprivation

China has accumulated a rich body of empirical knowledge of the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of various diseases throughout its long history. Chemical studies on Chinese medicinal plants provide a valuable material base for the discovery and development of new drugs of natural origin. In this article recent chemical work on various Chinese medicinal plants is reviewed, including Mussaenda pubescens (Rubiaceae), Isatis indigotica (Cruciferae), Euphorbia fischeriana, and E. ebracteolata (Euphorbiaceae), and Stemona species (Stemonaceae). The structural diversity of the medicinal chemical constituents of the above plants is discussed.     

Herb use and necrodegenerative hepatitis

Twelve patients with herbally-induced hepatitis are described and the clinicopathological features of their illness, which seem to present a recognisable spectrum, are discussed. The nature and the severity of the histological changes seem to correlate with the clinical manifestations and the immediate prognosis. Laboratory tests, especially liver function studies, are of limited diagnostic and prognostic value. The plants which contain the responsible toxins, have been identified in this country and in other parts of Southern Africa. A short list is provided of, apparently, the commonest medicinal plants in Lesotho. Many more toxic plants, however, are used in food and in diverse traditional medications. Senecio species are the principal source of hepatotoxic alkoloids, especially pyrrolizidines. Experimental studies ann evidence of similar disorders in animals, have thrown some light on the pathogenic mechanisms of these hepatotoxic and possibly hepatocarcinogenic agents. The disease in humans probably results from a combination of factors.     

Screening of Indian plants for biological activity: Part XV

Alcoholics extracts of 266 botanically identified plant materials from 222 plant species have been tested for various biological activities including chemotherapeutic and pharmacological screenings. Biological activities have been observed in 89 extracts. Follow-up studies have been carried out in some plants with confirmed activity. The active principles and results of these studies are reported.     

Marchantinquinone, isolated from Reboulia hemisphaerica, as inhibitor of lipid peroxidation and as free radical scavenger

Recent years have witnessed a renewed interest in plants as pharmaceuticals in the Western world. This interest is channeled into the discovery of new biologically-active molecules by the pharmaceutical industry and into the adoption of crude extracts of plants for self-medication by the general public. In both of these areas some attention is being paid to the investigation and use of ethnopharmacology, the traditional use of plants for medicinal purposes by particular cultural groups. Ethnopharmacologic leads have resulted in the introduction of new single molecule drugs but have a greater role to play if crude extracts are accepted for clinical use in the West. The problems confronting such usage are discussed. Considerable benefits for developing countries are possible when the local medicinal plants are subjected to scientific methods of validation of traditional use and quality control. This approach has met with success in some parts of the world but is not always appreciated by national governments and international agencies. Related areas of concern such as conservation of ecology and culture must be integrated with any such program. Plants used in traditional medicine therefore have an important role to play in the maintenance of health in all parts of the world and in the introduction of new treatments.     

Polysaccharides of flower plants: structure and physiological activity

The results of studies on the chemical structure and physiological activity of phanerogam polysaccharides, accumulated within the last two decades, are reviewed. Three types of polysaccharides are considered: rhamnogalacturonans (pectins and related gums and mucilages, type A), acidic arabinogalactans (mainly plant mucilages, gums, and some hemicelluloses, type B), and neutral glucans and heteroglycans (reserve polysaccharides, type C). Various physiological activities of these plant polysaccharides are discussed, with particular emphasis being placed on their immunomodulatory action. The data available on the relationship between chemical structure and physiological activity of plant polysaccharides are considered. Information on the medicinal use of some plants containing physiologically active polysaccharides is presented.     

Regulatory volume decrease and intracellular Ca2+ in murine neuroblastoma cells studied with fluorescent probes

Numerous proteins have been identified in yeast and mammalian cells which are involved in trafficking between the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus. A great number of partial cDNA sequences now available from the two major plant model species, Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa, makes it possible to identify putative plant homologues of known genes/proteins from non-plant species. The authors used this approach to screen the database of Expressed Sequence Tags (dbEST) in order to detect plant homologues of proteins involved in membrane transport between ER and Golgi. Availability of these partial sequences will facilitate the screening of cDNA and genomic libraries otherwise performed using heterologous probes derived from animal and yeast genes. As the plant Golgi complex differs in many respects from its mammalian and yeast counterparts, the dbEST clones found can be directly used for various functional assays (immunoprecipitation, two-hybrid analysis, transgenic plants etc.) to test the exact roles of the encoded proteins and identify their functional partners, some of which may be specific for plants.     

Reduced growth hormone (GH) responsiveness to combined GH-releasing hormone and pyridostigmine administration in the Prader-Willi syndrome

Pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) clones have been shown to be adapted to particular host plant species but it is unknown whether there are host races. A 1101 base pair region of the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene (COI) was sequenced for 21 pea aphid clones that had been collected from different host plants in Canada and the U.S.A. Only five closely related mitochondrial haplotypes were found. A maximum likelihood phylogeny was estimated for these five haplotypes and four related aphid species: Acyrthosiphon macrosiphum, A. kondoi, Fimbriaphis fimbriata, and Macrosiphum creelii. Pea aphids from the same host plant species were no more likely to have the same mitochondrial haplotype than aphids from different host plant species. In addition, aphids from the same geographical regions were no more likely to have the same mitochondrial haplotype than aphids from different geographic regions. I therefore reject the hypothesis that there are monophyletic host races of the pea aphid.     

Genetic transformation of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

Genetic engineering can be used to complement traditional breeding methods in crop plant improvement. Transfer of genes from heterologous species provides the means of selectively introducing new traits into crop plants and expanding the gene pool beyond what has been available to traditional breeding systems. The prerequisites for genetic engineering are efficient transformation and tissue culture systems that allow selection and regeneration of transgenic plants. Cassava, an integral plant for food security in developing countries, has until now been recalcitrant to transformation approaches. We report here a method for regenerating stably transformed cassava plants after cocultivation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens, which opens cassava for future improvement via biotechnology.     

Features of construction and use of digital X-ray apparatuses for lung examinations

Comparative analysis for different antibodies' binding sites at the proteins samples, which were isolated from control and morphologically abnormal coniferous plants tissues have been investigated. Monoclonal antibodies against cytoskeletal proteins (actin, alpha- and beta tubulin), hsp 70 and against phosphotyrosine were used. It was detected that investigated biochemical features reflect morphological similarities between different plant species. Some differences between cytoskeleton proteins content in control and abnormal tissues have been also indicated. It is assumed that abnormal morphogenesis may be determined by low-level chronic irradiation during plants growth and development.     

How to study the pharmacology of medicinal plants in underdeveloped countries

This paper presents a reflection based on 15 years' experience of studies on the pharmacology of medicinal plants in an underdeveloped country, Brazil. In these countries the investment in research is small and frequently interrupted. There is no new-medicines development program. Brazilian pharmaceutical companies have been short-sighted and have not developed new drugs. Although the diversity of the Brazilian flora is a remarkable opportunity for the development of new medicine products, natural product research is limited to a small group. These difficulties are common to all underdeveloped countries. Strategies for the pharmacological study of medicinal plants are proposed, the main difficulties are identified and a discussion of possible ways to overcome them is presented.     

East Gondwana ancestry of the sunflower alliance of families

The sunflower alliance of families comprises nearly 10% of all flowering plant species and includes the largest of all plant families, the sunflower family Asteraceae, which has 23,000 species, and the bellflower family Campanulaceae. Both are worldwide in distribution, but the majority of their species occur in the northern hemisphere. Recently it has been shown that a number of small, woody families from the Australian-Southwest Pacific area also belong in this relationship. Here we add yet another such family and present phylogenetic, biogeographic, and chronological analyses elucidating the origin of this large group of plants. We show that the ancestral lineages are confined to Malesia, Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand and that the sunflower and bellflower families represent phylogenetically derived lineages within a larger group with a Cretaceous and southern-hemisphere, presumably East Gondwana, ancestry. Their highly derived position in the flowering plant phylogeny makes this significant for understanding the evolution of flowering plants in general.     

MUMPS--an economical and efficient time-sharing system for information management

A total of 203 characters has been determined for 68 strains of Aeromonas belonging to the Aeromonas hydrophila-A. punctata group. The results have been subjected to computer analysis using the coefficient of Jaccard-Sneath and the strains clustered by the method of aggregation according to the variance. The 68 strains can be divided into two well-segregated classes on the basis of 59 variable characters, of which seven are of diagnostic value. The two classes are considered as two separate species. The first one (42 strains) is assigned to the type species of the genus, A. hydrophila, and it appears that the species name, A. punctata, is an illegitimate synonym for A. hydrophila. The second (26 strains) constitutes a new species for which the name A. sobria sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of this new species has been deposited under the reference CIP7433 (our strain 208).     

Complete nucleotide sequence of the chloroplast genome from the green alga Chlorella vulgaris: the existence of genes possibly involved in chloroplast division

The complete nucleotide sequence of the chloroplast genome (150,613 bp) from the unicellular green alga Chlorella vulgaris C-27 has been determined. The genome contains no large inverted repeat and has one copy of rRNA gene cluster consisting of 16S, 23S, and 5S rRNA genes. It contains 31 tRNA genes, of which the tRNALeu(GAG) gene has not been found in land plant chloroplast DNAs analyzed so far. Sixty-nine protein genes and eight ORFs conserved with those found in land plant chloroplasts have also been found. The most striking is the existence of two adjacent genes homologous to bacterial genes involved in cell division, minD and minE, which are arranged in the same order in Escherichia coli. This finding suggests that the mechanism of chloroplast division is similar to bacterial division. Other than minD and minE homologues, genes encoding ribosomal proteins L5, L12, L19, and S9 (rpl5, rpl12, rpl19, and rps9); a chlorophyll biosynthesis Mg chelating subunit (chlI); and elongation factor EF-Tu (tufA), which have not been reported from land plant chloroplast DNAs, are present in this genome. However, many of the new chloroplast genes recently found in red and brown algae have not been found in C. vulgaris. Furthermore, this algal species possesses two long ORFs related to ycf1 and ycf2 that are exclusively found in land plants. These observations suggest that C. vulgaris is closer to land plants than to red and brown algae.     

Comparative sensitivity of 20 bioassays for soil quality

Increasing evidence suggests that the use of a single bioassay will never provide a full picture of the quality of the environment. Only a test battery, composed of bioassays of different animal and plant species from different trophic levels will reduce uncertainty, allowing an accurate assessment of the quality of the environment. In the present study, a test battery composed of 20 bioassays of varying biological endpoints has been compared. Apart from lethality and reproductive failure in earthworms, springtails, nematoda, algae and vascular plants, these endpoints also included bioavailibility of metals (bacteria), heat-shock induction (nematodes, algae), DNA damage (bacteria, earthworm, vascular plants), beta-galactosidase (Daphnia) and esterase activity (algae) and a range of immunological parameters (earthworm). Four chemicals (cadmium, phenol, pentachlorophenol and trifluralin)--each representing a different toxic mode of action--were applied in a dilution series (from 1 mg/kg up to 1000 mg/kg) onto OECD standard soil. The tests have been performed both on these artificially contaminated soil samples and on aqueous extracts subsequently obtained from these soils. The results show that the immunological parameters and the loss of weight in the earthworms were among the most sensitive solid-phase assays. Esterase inhibition and heat-shock induction in algae were shown to be extremely sensitive when applied to soil extracts. As previously shown at the species level, no single biological endpoint was shown to be the most sensitive for all four modes of toxic action.     

Dopamine D3 receptor gene polymorphism and the psychiatric symptoms seen in first-break schizophrenic patients

Cycads, the most primitive of the living gymnosperms, have been used and continue to be used for food and medicinal purposes by many cultures, although toxins must be removed before ingestion. In our quest to identify tropical plants that contain inhibitors of the cytochrome P-450 aromatase and thus may be efficacious in treating estrogen-dependent tumors, we have screened extracts from 5 species of cycad folia encompassing 3 genera: Cycas cairnsiana F. Muell., Cycas revoluta Thunb., Cycas rumphii Miq., Dioon spinulosum Dyer and Encephalartos ferox Bertol. All extracts were found to contain inhibitors of the human enzyme.     

Therapeutic effects of substances occurring in higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms: a modern perspective

This review highlights some of the recently isolated and identified substances of higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms origin that express promising antitumor, immune modulating, cardiovascular and hypercholesterolemia, antiviral, antibacterial, and antiparasitic effects. Medicinal mushrooms have a long history of use in folk medicine. In particular, mushrooms useful against cancers of the stomach, esophagus, lungs, etc. are known in China, Russia, Japan, Korea, as well as the U.S.A. and Canada. There are about 200 species of mushrooms that have been found to markedly inhibit the growth of different kinds of tumors. Searching for new antitumor and other medicinal substances from mushrooms and to study the medicinal value of these mushrooms have become a matter of great significance. However, most of the mushroom origin antitumor substances have not been clearly defined. Several antitumor polysaccharides such as hetero-beta-glucans and their protein complexes (e.g., xyloglucans and acidic beta-glucan-containing uronic acid), as well as dietary fibers, lectins, and terpenoids have been isolated from medicinal mushrooms. In Japan, Russia, China, and the U.S.A. several different polysaccharide antitumor agents have been developed from the fruiting body, mycelia, and culture medium of various medicinal mushrooms (Lentinus edodes, Ganoderma lucidum, Schizophyllum commune, Trametes versicolor, Inonotus obliquus, and Flammulina velutipes). Both cellular components and secondary metabolites of a large number of mushrooms have been shown to effect the immune system of the host and therefore could be used to treat a variety of disease states.     

Translation in plants--rules and exceptions

Translation processes in plants are very similar to those in other eukaryotic organisms and can in general be explained with the scanning model. Particularly among plant viruses, unconventional mRNAs are frequent, which use modulated translation processes for their expression: leaky scanning, translational stop codon readthrough or frameshifting, and transactivation by virus-encoded proteins are used to translate polycistronic mRNAs; leader and trailer sequences confer (cap-independent) efficient ribosome binding, usually in an end-dependent mechanism, but true internal ribosome entry may occur as well; in a ribosome shunt, sequences within an RNA can be bypassed by scanning ribosomes. Translation in plant cells is regulated under conditions of stress and during development, but the underlying molecular mechanisms have not yet been determined. Only a small number of plant mRNAs, whose structure suggests that they might require some unusual translation mechanisms, have been described.