Quantitative methods in ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology: considering the overall flora--hypothesis testing for over- and underused plant families with the Bayesian approach

An imprecise probability approach-based determination of over-represented southern African plant genera and families used in ethnopharmacology

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The analyses of patterns of over-representation of southern African traditional medicinal plants at the genus and family level provide information about the differences in plant use among southern African countries and disease categories. 'Over-representation' refers to the phenomenon whereby the proportion of plants belonging to a taxonomic group is higher in ethnobotanical pharmacopoeia than in the total flora.

AIM OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to use the Imprecise Dirichlet Model (IDM) to analyse data from ten southern African countries to establish how over-represented medicinal plant families compare with over-represented genera, how over-represented medicinal taxa differ among countries in this region of Africa, and how over-represented taxa differ among six major disease categories.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Floral data for the total species composition of each country were obtained from online databases. Medicinal plant species lists were generated from published surveys, inventories, and books. IDM calculations were executed using the inverse of the cumulative beta probability density function in Microsoft Excel™. Python programming language source code was used to calculate Pearson correlation (r) values and Jaccard coefficients (J).

RESULTS

Nine of forty-two over-represented medicinal plant families in southern Africa (group 1) do not have over-represented genera. Seven of the forty genera with the highest margins of over-representation belong to under-represented families. Nineteen of the forty-two over-represented families have margins of over-representation smaller than the cumulative margins of their over-represented genera. Groups of countries with similar overall flora (J ≥ 0.333) are Botswana and Namibia (group 2), Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe (group 3). The families and genera with the highest margins of over-representation are Loganiaceae and Albizia in group 1, Combretaceae and Vachellia in group 2, Dioscoreaceae and Senna in group 3, and Sapotaceae and Solanum in group 4 (South Africa). The families and genera with the highest margins of over-representation across disease categories are Ebenaceae and Albizia, Canellaceae and Dicoma, Combretaceae and Pterocelastrus, Ebenaceae and Bersama, Francoaceae and Erythrina, and Aristolochiaceae and Strychnos for plants used in the treatment of STIs, febrile and mosquito-vector diseases, microbial infections, pain, skin conditions, and female sexual/reproductive problems, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Genus-level calculations are more efficient in generating taxonomic lists that can be used for ethnopharmacological investigations due to the exclusion of under-represented genera. Limiting the size of geographical areas from which medicinal plant lists are sampled and targeting plants used to treat specific types of disease prevents the underestimation of niche over-represented taxa.

Wild food plants of Brazil: a theoretical approach to non-random selection

Ethnobiological investigations have focused on identifying factors that interfere with the criteria adopted for selection of plants, especially medicinal plants, by different populations, confirming the theory that plant selection is not random. However, regarding wild food plants, little effort has been made to confirm the theory in this context, especially in Brazil. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to contribute to the establishment of theoretical bases of the non-random selection of wild food plants by local populations in Brazil. For this, searches were made in 4 databases, namely, Web of Science, Scielo, Scopus and PubMed, using 8 sets of keywords in English and Portuguese in order to identify wild food plants occurring in Brazil. The steps were: application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, screening of articles, selection of studies based on risk of bias, data treatment and, finally, data analysis. Eighty articles met the inclusion criteria of this review. However, 45 of them were considered to present high risk of bias and thus 35 articles were kept for the identification of overused and underused families. The results were inferred through two different approaches (IDM and Bayesian). Annonaceae, Arecaceae, Basellaceae, Cactaceae, Capparaceae, Caryocaraceae, Myrtaceae, Passifloraceae, Rhamnaceae, Rosaceae, Sapotaceae, Talinaceae, and Typhaceae were considered overused. Eriocaulaceae, Orchidaceae, and Poaceae were considered underused. Therefore, considering that some families are more (or less) used than others, we confirm that the wild food plants occurring in Brazil, known and used by different populations, are not chosen at random.

Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches

Globally, food and medicinal plants have been documented, but their use patterns are poorly understood. Useful plants are non-random subsets of flora, prioritizing certain taxa. This study evaluates orders and families prioritized for medicine and food in Kenya, using three statistical models: Regression, Binomial, and Bayesian approaches. An extensive literature search was conducted to gather information on indigenous flora, medicinal and food plants. Regression residuals, obtained using LlNEST linear regression function, were used to quantify if taxa had unexpectedly high number of useful species relative to the overall proportion in the flora. Bayesian analysis, performed using BETA.INV function, was used to obtain superior and inferior 95% probability credible intervals for the whole flora and for all taxa. To test for the significance of individual taxa departure from the expected number, binomial analysis using BINOMDIST function was performed to obtain p-values for all taxa. The three models identified 14 positive outlier medicinal orders, all with significant values (p < 0.05). Fabales had the highest (66.16) regression residuals, while Sapindales had the highest (1.1605) R-value. Thirty-eight positive outlier medicinal families were identified; 34 were significant outliers (p < 0.05). Rutaceae (1.6808) had the highest R-value, while Fabaceae had the highest regression residuals (63.2). Sixteen positive outlier food orders were recovered; 13 were significant outliers (p < 0.05). Gentianales (45.27) had the highest regression residuals, while Sapindales (2.3654) had the highest R-value. Forty-two positive outlier food families were recovered by the three models; 30 were significant outliers (p < 0.05). Anacardiaceae (5.163) had the highest R-value, while Fabaceae had the highest (28.72) regression residuals. This study presents important medicinal and food taxa in Kenya, and adds useful data for global comparisons.

Medicinal plants used by rural Thai people to treat non-communicable diseases and related symptoms

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are becoming more common in remote regions, whereas previously they were more common in middle-class to wealthy societies. The rising prevalence and severity of NCDs has increased the demand for medical innovation in this space. In this regard, knowledge of traditional medicines used in the treatment of NCDs, by people in the remote communities of Thailand, represents an innovation opportunity. This study aims to use data on ethnomedicinal plants used by local Thai people to identify plant candidates for study of safety and efficacy against a range of specified NCDs. Data were taken from both the literature and interviews from 230 locations in Thailand. The consulted literature was published in the years from 1990 to 2020. Ethnomedicinal field observations were made in person, in villages in Nan and Chiang Rai provinces, in 2021. Data includes names of plants used to target NCDs, and names of target diseases. Important plant species were identified based on the number of use reports and use values together with results from Bayesian approach. A total of 766 plant species were recorded in the treatment of NCDs. Most of the species that were described by informants were used to target diabetes, hypertension, chronic respiratory and renal diseases. This study proposes several plant species that have potential as treatments against NCDs. Many of these important species have insufficient scientific data to support their uses. The study suggests that assessment of efficacy and safety should be the next logical steps.

Ethnoveterinary Medicine and Ethnopharmacology in the Main Transhumance Areas of Castilla-La Mancha (Spain)

In this study, we document the practices of ethnoveterinary medicine and ethnopharmacology in the context of traditional transhumance routes that cross Castilla La Mancha from north to south. Transhumance is a type of grazing system that allows advantage to be taken of winter pastures (wintering places) and summer pastures by seasonal movement, twice a year, of cattle and their shepherds. Our study is based on over 200 interviews (from 1994 to 2021) conducted in 86 localities along eight major transhumance routes “cañadas reales” and 25 other minor transhumance routes, and involved 210 informants, 89 single and 121 groups, and 562 individuals, of which the majority were men. Sixty-three recorded pathologies and their treatments are discussed. Two hundred and two species and substances, belonging to 92 different families, have been recorded from the interviews, of which most are plants. Amid the toxic plant species, the most cited in the interviews are Erophaca baetica (L.) Boiss., Lupinus angustifolius L., and Oenanthe crocata L. Some of the species reported as toxic were reservoirs of pathogens or markers for dangerous areas. One of the fields most widely covered in our study is that of prevention, protection, and control of endo- and ectoparasites. This control is carried out mainly by means of aromatic plants. As a polyvalent species, Daphne gnidium L. is outstanding, and it contributes one-tenth of the records of our study. Among the species of fundamentally therapeutic use, Cistus ladanifer L. stands out by far. Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) based on the repertories of ingredients, separates the routes whose most important sections run through siliceous terrain with its characteristic flora, especially in the provinces of Ciudad Real and Toledo, from the routes that run through the limestone terrain of Albacete and Cuenca, and link the Eastern Mancha and the “Serranía de Cuenca” with Andalusia and the Spanish Levant.

Future Directions for the Discovery of Natural Product-Derived Immunomodulating Drugs

Drug discovery from natural sources is going through a renaissance, having spent many decades in the shadow of synthetic molecule drug discovery, despite the fact that natural product-derived compounds occupy a much greater chemical space than those created through synthetic chemistry methods. With this new era comes new possibilities, not least the novel targets that have emerged in recent times and the development of state-of-the-art technologies that can be applied to drug discovery from natural sources. Although progress has been made with some immunomodulating drugs, there remains a pressing need for new agents that can be used to treat the wide variety of conditions that arise from disruption, or over-activation, of the immune system; natural products may therefore be key in filling this gap. Recognising that, at present, there is no authoritative article that details the current state-of-the-art of the immunomodulatory activity of natural products, this in-depth review has arisen from a joint effort between the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (IUPHAR) Natural Products and Immunopharmacology, with contributions from a Powered by Editorial Manager® and ProduXion Manager® from Aries Systems Corporation number of world-leading researchers in the field of natural product drug discovery, to provide a "position statement" on what natural products has to offer in the search for new immunomodulatory argents. To this end, we provide a historical look at previous discoveries of naturally occurring immunomodulators, present a picture of the current status of the field and provide insight into the future opportunities and challenges for the discovery of new drugs to treat immune-related diseases.

Plants used traditionally as antimalarials in Latin America: Mining the tree of life for potential new medicines

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Malaria remains a serious and challenging disease. Traditional antimalarial medicines are largely based on plants, and ethnopharmacological research has inspired the development of antimalarial pharmaceuticals such as artemisinin. Antimalarial drug resistance is an increasing problem in Plasmodium species, and new therapeutic strategies to combat malaria are needed. Although the number of malaria cases has been decreasing in Latin America, malaria remains a significant threat in many regions. Local people in Latin America have been using numerous plant species to treat malaria, some of which have been scientifically studied, but many others have not.

AIM OF THE STUDY

Our principal objective is to harness ethnobotanical data on species used traditionally to treat malaria, combined with phylogenetic approaches, to understand how ethnobotany could help identify plant genera as potential sources of new medicines.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Plants used to treat malaria in Latin America were compiled from published and grey literature, unpublished data, and herbarium specimens. Initial assessment of potentially important species/genera/families included compiling the number of species used within the genus, the number of use reports per genus and species, and the geographic distribution of their use. The analysis of taxonomic distribution of species reported as antimalarial in Latin America (excluding the Southern Cone) was conducted, to determine which genera and families with reputed antimalarial properties are over-represented, and phylogenetic analyses were performed to identify if there was evidence for antimalarial species being dispersed/clustered throughout the tree or at its tips. This approach enabled 'hot-nodes' in certain families to be identified, to predict new genera with potential antimalarial properties.

RESULTS

Over 1000 plant species have been used to treat malaria in Latin America, of which over 600 species were cited only once. The genera with the highest number of antimalarial species were Aspidosperma, Solanum, Piper, Croton and Aristolochia. In terms of geographic distribution, the most widely used genera were Aspidosperma, Momordica, Cinchona, Senna and Stachytarpheta. Significant phylogenetic signal was detected in the distribution of native species used for malaria, analysed in a genus-level phylogenetic framework. The eudicot and magnoliidae lineages were over-represented, while monocots were not.

CONCLUSION

Analysis of ethnobotanical use reports in a phylogenetic framework reveals the existence of hot nodes for malaria across the Latin American flora. We demonstrate how species and genera currently lacking such reports could be pinpointed as of potential interest based on their evolutionary history. Extending this approach to other regions of the world and other diseases could accelerate the discovery of novel medicines and enhance healthcare in areas where new therapeutic strategies are needed.

Selection of medicinal plants for traditional medicines in Nepal

BACKGROUND

There are handful hypothesis-driven ethnobotanical studies in Nepal. In this study, we tested the non-random medicinal plant selection hypothesis using national- and community-level datasets through three different types of regression: linear model with raw data, linear model with log-transformed data and negative binomial model.

METHODS

For each of these model, we identified over-utilized families as those with highest positive Studentized residuals and underutilized families with highest negative Studentized residuals. The national-level data were collected from online databases and available literature while the community-level data were collected from Baitadi and Darchula districts.

RESULTS

Both dataset showed larger variance (national dataset mean 6.51 < variance 156.31, community dataset mean 1.16 < variance 2.38). All three types of regression were important to determine the medicinal plant species selection and use differences among the total plant families, although negative binomial regression was most useful. The negative binomial showed a positive nonlinear relationship between total plant family size and number of medicinal species per family for the national dataset (β1 = 0.0160 ± 0.0009, Z1 = 16.59, p < 0.00001, AIC1 = 1181), and with similar slope and stronger performance for the community dataset (β2 = 0.1747 ± 0.0199, Z2 = 8.76, p < 0.00001, AIC2 = 270.78). Moraceae and Euphorbiaceae were found over-utilized while Rosaceae, Cyperaceae and Caryophyllaceae were recorded as underutilized.

CONCLUSIONS

As our datasets showed larger variance, negative binomial regression was found the most useful for testing non-random medicinal plant selection hypothesis. The predictions made by non-random selection of medicinal plants hypothesis holds true for community-level studies. The identification of over-utilized families is the first step toward sustainable conservation of plant resources and it provides a baseline for pharmacological research that might be leading to drug discovery.

Medicinal Plants Used for Treating Mild Covid-19 Symptoms Among Thai Karen and Hmong

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is causing many severe problems globally, and it is not known for how long it will last. The only hope we have for dealing with the problem is to produce sufficient vaccines and administer them efficiently. However, the current demand for vaccines greatly exceeds the supply, and many people will suffer from the disease for still some time. Moreover, the period for immunity obtained by the vaccines remains unknown, and we cannot predict how long the world will suffer the COVID-19 infections. Therefore, there will be a continued demand for treatments of its symptoms. An alternative solution for providing such treatment is the use of traditional medicinal plants.

Aims: To document medicinal plants used by Hmong and Karen in Thailand to treat mild symptoms of COVID-19.

Methods: Traditional knowledge about ethnomedicinal plants used by Hmong and Karen in Thailand for treating mild symptoms listed by WHO as associated with COVID 19, was collected in field interviews and extracted from the literature.

Results: We identified 491 plant species used medicinally by both ethnic groups to treat fever, cough, diarrhea, muscle pain and ache, rash, headache, sore throat, and conjunctivitis. Of the 491 species 60 were mentioned at least five times in the literature or in our field data. Of these 60 species, we propose the most commonly used ones for treatments of mild COVID-19 symptoms. Ten of these most commonly mentioned species were used for treatments of fever, nine for treatment of cough, four for treatment of diarrhea, two for treatment of rash, and a single species was used to treat muscle pain and headache.

Conclusion: This study suggests alternative treatments for mild symptoms of COVID-19 with medicinal plants that are traditionally used by the ethnic minority groups of the Hmong and Karen in Thailand. Although COVID-19 is a new disease, its mild symptoms are shared with many other diseases. Traditional knowledge on medicinal plants used by the Thai Karen and Hmong could help in the treatments of these symptoms associated with COVID-19. Many of the proposed plants were used abundantly by both ethnic groups, and other studies on biological activities support their efficacy in such treatments.

Native useful vascular plants of China: A checklist and use patterns

Of all types of interactions between humans and plants, the utilization of plants by people is the most direct and influential. China has a long history of using native plants and a large body of recorded knowledge on uses. Here, we present an inventory of plant uses in China based on an extensive survey of the literature. Twelve categories of usage are recognized (medicinal, edible, etc.), these categories being chosen according to an integration of various current standards. A total of 50,521 use-citations were recorded, covering 10,808 species and infraspecies, representing 28% of the Chinese flora. Additional information is included in the dataset on taxonomy and endangerment status. Analysis of the data reveals that the eight plant families with the greatest numbers of species used in China, namely Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Rosaceae, Ranunculaceae, Poaceae, Lamiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Liliaceae, are also the top eight most species-rich Chinese plant families. However, there are some families that are over-represented or under-representation in certain use categories, compared with their relative abundance in the total flora. There are indications that rare and endangered species are being subject to some degree of over-exploitation. A disproportionately high number of used species are Chinese endemics (3552 species, representing over 33% of used species). A total of 20% of used species have been classified as threatened nationally or globally, according to at least one of the various threat assessments that have been made for the Chinese flora. This comprehensive inventory of the useful plants of China, with relevant ethnobotanical information included, provides a baseline for further studies of plant resources. It will be useful in follow-up research. The scientific dataset it contains will be useful for the protection and sustainable utilization of plant resources in China.

The Role of Botanical Families in Medicinal Ethnobotany: A Phylogenetic Perspective

Studies suggesting that medicinal plants are not chosen at random are becoming more common. The goal of this work is to shed light on the role of botanical families in ethnobotany, depicting in a molecular phylogenetic frame the relationships between families and medicinal uses of vascular plants in several Catalan-speaking territories. The simple quantitative analyses for ailments categories and the construction of families and disorders matrix were carried out in this study. A Bayesian approach was used to estimate the over- and underused families in the medicinal flora. Phylogenetically informed analyses were carried out to identify lineages in which there is an overrepresentation of families in a given category of use, i.e., hot nodes. The ethnobotanicity index, at a specific level, was calculated and also adapted to the family level. Two diversity indices to measure the richness of reported taxa within each family were calculated. A total of 47,630 use reports were analysed. These uses are grouped in 120 botanical families. The ethnobotanicity index for this area is 14.44% and the ethnobotanicity index at the family level is 68.21%. The most-reported families are Lamiaceae and Asteraceae and the most reported troubles are disorders of the digestive and nutritional system. Based on the meta-analytic results, indicating hot nodes of useful plants at the phylogenetic level, specific ethnopharmacological research may be suggested, including a phytochemical approach of particularly interesting taxa.

Evaluation of plant sources for antiinfective lead compound discovery by correlating phylogenetic, spatial, and bioactivity data

Antibiotic resistance and viral diseases are rising around the world and are becoming major threats to global health, food security, and development. One measure that has been suggested to mitigate this crisis is the development of new antibiotics. Here, we provide a comprehensive evaluation of the phylogenetic and biogeographic patterns of antiinfective compounds from seed plants in one of the most species-rich regions on Earth and identify clades with naturally occurring substances potentially suitable for the development of new pharmaceutical compounds. Specifically, we combine taxonomic and phylogenetic data for >7,500 seed plant species from the flora of Java with >16,500 secondary metabolites and 6,255 georeferenced occurrence records to 1) identify clades in the phylogeny that are characterized by either an overrepresentation ("hot clades") or an underrepresentation ("cold clades") of antiinfective compounds and 2) assess the spatial patterns of plants with antiinfective compounds relative to total plant diversity across the region. Across the flora of Java, we identify 26 "hot clades" with plant species providing a high probability of finding antibiotic constituents. In addition, 24 "cold clades" constitute lineages with low numbers of reported activities but which have the potential to yield novel compounds. Spatial patterns of plant species and metabolite diversity are strongly correlated across Java, indicating that regions of highest species diversity afford the highest potential to discover novel natural products. Our results indicate that the combination of phylogenetic, spatial, and phytochemical information is a useful tool to guide the selection of taxa for efforts aimed at lead compound discovery.

Anti-Infectious Plants of The Thai Karen: A Meta-Analysis

Pharmacology has developed many drugs to treat infections, but many people, especially in developing countries, cannot afford to purchase them, and still depend on traditional knowledge and local medicinal plants to fight off infections. In addition, numerous microbes have developed resistance to the pharmaceutical drugs developed to fight them, and for many, such as Covid-19, effective drugs remain to be found. Ethnomedicinal knowledge is useful, not only for local people as a source of medicine for primary health care, but also for new pharmacological discoveries. This study aimed to identify the plants that the Karen, the largest hill-tribe ethnic minority in northern and western Thailand, use for treatments of infectious diseases. We present a meta-analysis of data from 16 ethnobotanical studies of 25 Karen villages with the aim of understanding traditional knowledge and treatments and point to potential plants for further pharmacological development. The Karen used 127 plant species from 59 plant families to treat infections and infectious diseases. The Cultural Important Index (CI) showed that the Leguminosae, Euphorbiaceae, Asteraceae, Lauraceae, Apocynaceae, Menispermaceae, and Lamiaceae were the most commonly used families. As for species, Cleidion javanicum, Tinospora crispa, Litsea cubeba, Aesculus assamica, Tadehagi triquetrum, Senna alata, Tithonia diversifolia, Embelia sessiliflora, and Combretum indicum were the most commonly used in treatments of infectious diseases. We suggest that these plant species should be the first to be pharmacologically tested for possible development of medicines, and the remaining species registered should subsequently undergo testing.

High-Value Plant Species Used for the Treatment of "Fever" by the Karen Hill Tribe People

The symptom “fever” is generally not itself a terminal condition. However, it does occur with common mild to severe ailments afflicting the world population. Several allopathic medicines are available to attenuate fever by targeting the pathogen or the symptom itself. However, many people in marginal civilizations are obligated to use locally grown medicinal plants due to limited access to common pharmaceuticals. The Karen ethnic group is the biggest ethnic minority group in the hill-tribes of Thailand. They utilise a vast repertoire of medicinal plant species. Since many modern drugs were discovered out of traditional therapies, it is possible to discover new allopathic drugs in the treatment of fever and associated pathogens from the Karen people. Thus, this study aims to identify and record the ethnomedicinal plants they used for the treatment of “fever”. The names of plants used by the Thai Karen people for the treatment of fever were mined from publications on ethnomedicinal uses. Useful plant species and families were identified using the Cultural Importance Index (CI). With the mined data, 125 plant species from 52 families were identified, distributed across 25 Karen villages. A chemical cross-examination of these species provided valuable insights into chemical classes worthy of further investigation in the context of fever and associated pathogens.

A family-level floristic inventory and analysis of medicinal plants used in Traditional African Medicine

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Floristic diversity patterns of medicinal plants in sub-Saharan Africa are compared to global patterns to gain insights into the selection of plants used in Traditional African Medicine.

AIMS OF THE STUDY

To answer two questions: Firstly, is the selection of medicinal plants used in Traditional African Medicine in sub-Saharan Africa based on availability or is it biased towards certain plant families? Secondly, does the floristic composition of African medicinal plants differ from the global pattern and from other healing systems of the world?

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data edited and summarized from recent reviews and on-line databases were compiled into an inventory of all vascular plant families of the world, showing the global numbers of species per family, the numbers of African taxa per family, the numbers of African medicinal plant species per family and the numbers of commonly traded African medicinal plants. These data were subjected to linear regression analyses, as well as Bayesian analysis and Imprecise Probability calculation (using the Imprecise Dirichlet model).

RESULTS

At least 4576 vascular plant species from 1518 genera are used in Traditional African Medicine in sub-Saharan Africa, representing 192 families (out of 254 African families). Traditional African Medicine is dominated by Fabaceae (567 spp., 156 genera), Rubiaceae (318 spp., 99 genera), Asteraceae (314 spp., 112 genera), Malvaceae (202 spp., 46 genera), Euphorbiaceae (197 spp., 47 genera), Apocynaceae (167 spp., 68 genera), Lamiaceae (142 spp., 37 genera), Acanthaceae (106 spp., 40 genera), Asparagaceae (90 spp., 18 genera) and Poaceae (85 species, 47 genera). Regression analysis of the African medicinal flora shows that the Fabaceae (576 medicinal species/residual +136), Malvaceae (202/+105), Rubiaceae (318/+85), Lamiaceae (142/+55), Euphorbiaceae (197/+54) and Combretaceae (72/+49) are overused, while Aizoaceae (10/-136), Orchidaceae (34/-127), Iridaceae (16/-101) and Poaceae (85/-87) are underused. Bayesian and IDM analysis showed that a large number of smaller families are also overused and underused. Commonly traded African medicinal plants species are mostly from Fabaceae (27 species), Apocynaceae (16), Burseraceae (12) and Rubiaceae (9).

CONCLUSION

The selection of African medicinal plants appears to be based on availability (for some families) and apparently cultural and other criteria, such as the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids and volatile compounds for others (e.g., Fabaceae, Apocynaceae and Burseraceae). In terms of commercialised species in international trade, Traditional African Medicine differs from the global pattern (and other healing systems) in the dominance of Fabaceae and Apocynaceae and the relatively low numbers of Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, Apiaceae and Rosaceae.

Non-random medicinal plants selection in the Kichwa community of the Ecuadorian Amazon

The non-random selection of medicinal plants theory, which predicts taxonomical biases in ethnopharmacopeias, indirectly demonstrates that traditional medicinal systems are rational and based in part on the therapeutic efficacy of plants. This theory suggests that because members of a taxonomical group share similar characteristics, some groups will be over-utilized in pharmacopeias, while other groups bereft of therapeutic potential will be under-utilized medicinally. Empirical evidence fo this theory comes from studies that used data collected at the national level which may lead to the overestimation of medicinal plant list given that some parts of the country (e.g., protected areas) can be unavailable for medicinal plant collection. Similarly, because medicinal plant importance and knowledge can be gender-specific and depends on the degree of exposure of a community, failure to account for gender and community experience can limit our understanding of non-random selection of medicinal plants. In this study, we used the negative binomial model and an examination of studentized residuals to demonstrate that a Kichwa community in the Ecuadorian Amazon over-utilized different sets of medicinal plant families depending on the gender of the informants or the experience of the community. We showed that utilizing local data instead of nationwide data reveals new over-utilized families. Seven of the nine most over-utilized medicinal plant families we found were previously reported in different biogeographical regions. The other two families are novel reports. Overall, our study proposes a novel method to uncover the intracultural heterogeneity of traditional knowledge and people non-random selection of medicinal plants at the local level.

Important Medicinal Plant Families in Thailand

Throughout the world, surveys have been conducted at the country level to answer research questions pertaining to ethnomedicinal usage patterns. This study is focused on Thailand, which has never been surveyed systematically in this way. We mined 16,000 records of medicinal plant use from 64 scientific reports, which were published from 1990 to 2014. In total, 2,187 plant species were cited as being useful for medicinal purposes. The overall aim was to reveal the relative importance of the plant families for pharmacological research. To determine the most important medicinal plant families, we use a combination of three statistical approaches: linear regression, Binomial analysis, and Bayesian analysis. At the regional level, 19 plant families repeatedly stood out as being the most important from an ethnomedicinal perspective.

Ethnopharmacology in the Upper Guadiana River area (Castile-La Mancha, Spain)

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Determining traditional remedies for human pathologies is relevant, when compared with the standard materia medica of the pharmacopoeias and dietary supplement databases, because we can assess the species and uses that have been previously studied and target understudied species for further pharmacological investigation.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to systematically record and analyze medicinal uses of natural resources (Plantae, Animalia, Fungi and minerals), mostly local, in the territories adjoining the upper Guadiana River and its tributaries. We were particularly interested in recording resources and pathologies linked to wetland areas, especially in the National Parks Las Tablas de Daimiel and Cabañeros. Wetlands are interesting because they present a double face in relation with human health: Wetlands furnish hydration, safe water, nutrition, and medicinal resources; are places from which people derive their livelihood. However wetlands are also sites of exposure to pollution or toxicants, and infectious diseases; and sites of physical hazards. We wanted to identify procedures for preparation of medicinal formulae and routes of administration. We also intended to detect whether a geographical pattern exists or not in our records in relation to the use of local resources.

METHODS

We used semi-structured interviews with one-to-one informants or groups, from 1998 to 2018. Raw data were introduced in a Firebird database and analyzed. To identify ingredients and pathologies we consulted local floras and epidemiological literature. Finally, we compared documented pathologies, remedies and ingredients in the historical context of medicinal uses of natural resources in Castile-La Mancha and especially in Ciudad Real.

RESULTS

126 pathologies and 220 species furnishing ingredients have been recorded from the interviews. In total, 188 are plants and 20 animals. The most commonly used species include Malva sylvestris, Phlomis lychnitis, Genista tridentata and Thymus mastichina. Most records refer to flowers, or fruits, of locally available plant species, classified as Mediterranean, European or widespread that belong to the Lamiaceae, Compositae or Leguminosae. Ingredients which are collected in open shrublands, known as "garrigue", and dry grasslands furnish a relevant proportion of records while the imported ingredients remain marginal. The contribution of wetlands, riverine habitats and irrigated fields and gardens as a source of medicinal resources is 36% of the records. It is relatively high considering its limited presence in terms of total extension within the study area. The most frequently reported diseases are respiratory, gastrointestinal, dermatological and infectious or parasitic.

CONCLUSIONS

Along the Guadiana River in the Ciudad Real province exists a wide and deep knowledge of traditional remedies for the treatment of common pathologies, based fundamentally on the use of local flora, fauna and mineral resources. The uses and ingredients documented are useful for further pharmacological investigation to improve health care for a wide range of pathologies.

Medicinal plants of the Caatinga, northeastern Brazil: Ethnopharmacopeia (1980-1990) of the late professor Francisco José de Abreu Matos

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE

The Caatinga (semi-arid region), is an exclusively Brazilian biome. Considering the scarcity of ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies in this region before the year 2000, this study presents data from ethnobotanical expeditions carried out between 1980 and 1990, by the late professor Francisco José de Abreu Matos (1924-2008). The information revealed in this present work are valuable and remained unpublished until now.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The objective was to organize, systematize and analyze ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological data using ethnobotanical analytical techniques. The most cited native species in each use category were selected for literature review of the pharmacological studies related to their ethnomedicinal uses.

RESULTS

Revision of the botanical nomenclature led to the botanical confirmation of 272 plants, of which 84 (30.9%) were reclassified. These represented 71 families and 220 genera that were cited 1957 times. 153 (56.3%) of these plant species are native to Brazil, of which 36 (23.4%) are endemic to the Caatinga. The use reports (RU) associated with these plants, according to the body systems (ICPC-2) in decreasing order of UR and the ICF values were respiratory system (93 species, 407 UR, ICF 0.77), digestive system (119 species, 373 UR, ICF 0.68), general and nonspecific symptoms (95 species, 219 UR, ICF 0.58), female genital system (60 species, 184 UR, ICF 0.68), skin (71 species, 156 UR, ICF 0.55), cardiovascular (50 species, 99 UR, ICF 0.50), blood and immune system diseases (46 species, 96 UR, ICF 0.53), urological (44 species, 88 UR, ICF 0.51), musculoskeletal (33 species, 80 UR, ICF 0.60), psychological (21 species, 71 UR, ICF 0.60), while others represent less than 10.0% of the UR. The most cited plants in the disease categories were Dysphania ambrosioides (28), Pombalia calceolaria (28) Hymenaea courbaril (26), Myracrodruon urundeuva (50), Brassica juncea subsp. integrifolia (16), Scoparia dulcis (22), Phyllanthus niruri (14), Egletes viscosa (25), Lippia alba (16), Erythroxylum vacciniifolium (9) and Salvia rosmarinus (21). The most prominent clades of the medicinal plants based on cluster analysis were the Lamiids (Euasterids)-497 UR and the Fabids (Eurosids I) - 468 UR. Association between certain phylogenetic clades and use-category were also observed and discussed.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated a new approach in ethnopharmacology by mapping plant usages to diseases prevalent in a community from old ethnobotanical travel reports. In addition to revealing the therapeutic potential of Caatinga species using cluster analysis.

Bodies of the plant and Animal Kingdom: An illustrated manuscript on materia medica in the Netherlands (ca. 1800)

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Around 1800, Amsterdam was a global trade hub for materia medica of Dutch, European and exotic origin. Contemporary knowledge on medicinal plants in academic circles has been well documented in local pharmacopoeia, illustrated herbals and catalogues of botanic gardens. Until the end of the ancient regime, physicians, surgeons and apothecaries were trained how to use plants in their specific guild or Collegium Medicum. Little is known, however, on how the plant collectors and merchants that provided the pharmaceutical substances to apothecaries learnt to recognise the variety of medicinal products.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To analyse the content, origin, purpose and scientific importance of an anonymous, undated, hand-written Dutch manuscript on materia medica, entitled Corpora ex Regno Vegetabili/Animali (Bodies of the Plant/Animal kingdom) kept by the Artis Library of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We digitised the entire manuscript and dated the paper by means of its watermark. We identified the plant and animal species using the historic Dutch and Latin names, the illustrations and historic literature. We compared the plant properties and uses to contemporary literature to check whether the information in the manuscript was original or copied from another source.

RESULTS

The paper was produced between 1759 and 1816 in Zaandam, the Netherlands. The manuscript contains 19 substances of animal origin, one mineral and 273 plants and plant-derived products, which belong to ca. 260 species. While most plants are native or cultivated in the Netherlands, 111 plant entries (105 spp.) represent exotic products, imported from as far as Madagascar and Australia. A total of 134 illustrations were cut out from a 1549 Dutch edition of the New Herbal by Leonhard Fuchs (1543), but only 69% correspond to the correct species. The manuscript contains detailed descriptions on growth locations, field characteristics, flowering season, provenance and quality of the medicinal products, including methods to detect forgery. The author mostly described humoral properties of the plants rather than listing medicinal recipes. We did not find evidence that he copied his texts from other sources, but the Dutch and Latin names correspond largely with the Amsterdam pharmacopoeia from 1795.

CONCLUSIONS

The author's extensive knowledge on trade names, quality and origin of materia medica and his refrain from using literature suggests he could have been a merchant, an intermediary between herb cultivators, overseas traders and apothecaries. This manuscript offers a unique insight in the global trade in medicinal products and the circulation of knowledge in non-academic circles around 1800.

Ethnomedicinal plant diversity in Thailand

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Plants have provided medicine to humans for thousands of years, and in most parts of the world people still use traditional plant-derived medicine. Knowledge related to traditional use provides an important alternative to unavailable or expensive western medicine in many rural communities. At the same time, ethnomedicinal discoveries are valuable for the development of modern medicine. Unfortunately, globalization and urbanization causes the disappearance of much traditional medicinal plant knowledge.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To review available ethnobotanical knowledge about medicinal plants in Thailand and to estimate its diversity.

METHODS

Information about ethnomedicinal uses of plants in Thailand was extracted from 64 scientific reports, books, and theses produced between 1990 and 2014. Plant identifications in the primary sources were updated to currently accepted names following The Plant List website and the species were assigned to family following the Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Use Values (UV) were calculated to estimate the importance of medicinal plant species (UV_s) and families (UV_f). Medicinal use categories, plant parts used, preparations of the medicine, and their applications were noted for each use report.

RESULTS

We found 16,789 use reports for 2187 plant species in 206 families. These data came from 19 ethnic groups living in 121 villages throughout Thailand. The health conditions most commonly treated with medicinal plants were in the categories digestive system disorders, infections/infestations, nutritional disorders, muscular-skeletal system disorders, and genitourinary system disorders. Plant families with very high use values were Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Acanthaceae, Lamiaceae, and Zingiberaceae and species with very high use values were Chromolaena odorata (L.) R.M.King & H.Rob., Blumea balsamifera (L.) DC., and Cheilocostus speciosus (J.Koenig) C.D.Specht. Stems and leaves were the most used plant parts, but also other parts of the plants were used in medicinal recipes. The most common way of using the medicinal plants was as a decoction in water.

CONCLUSION

We found 2187 plant species that were used in traditional medicine in Thailand. Of these a few hundred had high use values, suggesting that they may produce bioactive compounds with strong physiological effects.

A framework for the targeted selection of herbs with similar efficacy by exploiting drug repositioning technique and curated biomedical knowledge

ETHNO PHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Plants have been the most important natural resources for traditional medicine and for the modern pharmaceutical industry. They have been in demand in regards to finding alternative medicinal herbs with similar efficacy. Due to the very low probability of discovering useful compounds by random screening, researchers have advocated for using targeted selection approaches. Furthermore, because drug repositioning can speed up the process of drug development, an integrated technique that exploits chemical, genetic, and disease information has been recently developed. Building upon these findings, in this paper, we propose a novel framework for the targeted selection of herbs with similar efficacy by exploiting drug repositioning technique and curated modern scientific biomedical knowledge, with the goal of improving the possibility of inferring the traditional empirical ethno-pharmacological knowledge.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

To rank candidate herbs on the basis of similarities against target herb, we proposed and evaluated a framework that is comprised of the following four layers: links, extract, similarity, and model. In the framework, multiple databases are linked to build an herb-compound-protein-disease network which was composed of one tripartite network and two bipartite networks allowing comprehensive and detailed information to be extracted. Further, various similarity scores between herbs are calculated, and then prediction models are trained and tested on the basis of theses similarity features.

RESULTS

The proposed framework has been found to be feasible in terms of link loss. Out of the 50 similarities, the best one enhanced the performance of ranking herbs with similar efficacy by about 120-320% compared with our previous study. Also, the prediction model showed improved performance by about 180-480%. While building the prediction model, we identified the compound information as being the most important knowledge source and structural similarity as the most useful measure.

CONCLUSIONS

In the proposed framework, we took the knowledge of herbal medicine, chemistry, biology, and medicine into consideration to rank herbs with similar efficacy in candidates. The experimental results demonstrated that the performances of framework outperformed the baselines and identified the important knowledge source and useful similarity measure.

Treating leishmaniasis in Amazonia: A review of ethnomedicinal concepts and pharmaco-chemical analysis of traditional treatments to inspire modern phytotherapies

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis are neglected tropical diseases that occur in all intertropical regions of the world. Amazonian populations have developed an abundant knowledge of the disease and its remedies. Therefore, we undertook to review traditional antileishmanial plants in Amazonia and have developed new tools to analyze this somewhat dispersed information.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A literature review of traditional remedies for cutaneous/mucocutaneous leishmaniasis in the Amazon was conducted and the data obtained was used to calculate distribution indexes designed to highlight the most relevant uses in Amazonia. The cultural distribution index represents the distribution rate of a given taxon among different cultural groups and was calculated as the ratio of the number of groups using the taxon to the total number of groups cited. The geographical distribution index allowed us to quantify spatial distribution of a taxon's uses in Amazonia and was calculated geometrically by measuring the average distance between the points where uses have been reported and the barycenter of those points. The general distribution index was defined as an arithmetic combination of the previous two and provides information on both cultural and spatial criteria.

RESULTS

475 use reports, concerning 291 botanical species belonging to 83 families have been gathered depicted from 29 sources. Uses concern 34 cultural groups. While the use of some taxa appears to be Pan-Amazonian, some others are clearly restricted to small geographical regions. Particular attention has been paid to the recipes and beliefs surrounding treatments. Topical application of the remedies dominated the other means of administration and this deserves particular attention as the main treatments against Neotropical leishmaniasis are painful systemic injections. The data set was analyzed using the previously defined distribution indexes and the most relevant taxa were further discussed from a phytochemical and pharmacological point of view.

CONCLUSIONS

The Amazonian biodiversity and cultural heritage host a fantastic amount of data whose systematic investigation should allow a better large-scale understanding of the dynamics of traditional therapies and the consequent discovery of therapeutic solutions for neglected diseases. Distribution indices are indeed powerful tools for emphasizing the most relevant treatments against a given disease and should be very useful in the meta-analysis of other regional pharmacopeia. This focus on renowned remedies that have not yet benefitted from extended laboratory studies, could stimulate future research on new treatments of natural origin for leishmaniasis.

Is there nothing new under the sun? The influence of herbals and pharmacopoeias on ethnobotanical traditions in Albacete (Spain)

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

This paper has two overarching aims: (1) presenting the results of studying the Albacete tariff of medicines of 1526 and (2) broadly analyzing the origin and influences of medicinal traditional knowledge in the region of Albacete, Spain. We use historical and modern literature that may have influenced this knowledge. Our primary goal was to determine the ingredients used in the pharmacy in the 16th century CE in Albacete through the analysis of the tariff, and our secondary goal was to investigate until when ingredients and uses present in pharmacy and herbals persisted in later periods.

METHODS

The identity of medicines and ingredients was determined by analyzing contemporary pharmacopoeias and classical pharmaceutical references. We analyzed further 21 sources (manuscripts, herbals, and books of medicines, pharmacopoeias, pharmacy inventories, and modern ethnobotanical records) for the presence/absence of ingredients and complex formulations of the tariff. Using factorial and cluster analysis and Bayesian inference applied to evolution models (reversible-jump Markov chain Monte Carlo), we compared textual sources. Finally, we analyzed the medicinal uses of the top 10 species in terms of frequency of citation to assess the dependence of modern ethnobotanical records on Renaissance pharmacy and herbals, and, ultimately, on Dioscorides.

RESULTS

In Albacete 1526, we determined 101 medicines (29 simple drugs and 72 compound medicines) comprising 187 ingredients (85% botanical, 7.5% mineral, and 7.5% zoological substances). All composed medicines appear standardized in the pharmacopoeias, notably in the pharmacopoeia of Florence from 1498. However, most were no longer in use by 1750 in the pharmacy, and were completely absent in popular herbal medicine in Albacete 1995 as well as in Alta Valle del Reno (Italy) in 2014. Among the ingredients present in different formulation are the flowers of Rosa gallica, honey (Apis mellifera), the roots of Nardostachys jatamansi, and Convolvulus scammonia, pistils of Crocus sativus, grapes and raisins (Vitis vinifera), rhizomes of Zingiber officinale, bark of Cinnamomum verum, leaves and fruits of Olea europaea, mastic generally of Pistacia lentiscus, and wood of Santalum album. The statistical analysis of sources produces four well-separated clusters (Renaissance Herbals and Pharmacopoeias, Ethnobotany and Folk Medicine, Old phytotherapy, and Modern phytotherapy including Naturopathy) confirming our a priori classification. The clade of Renaissance Herbals and Pharmacopoeias appears separated from the rest in 97% of bootstrapped trees. Bayesian inference produces a tree determined by an initial set of two well-distinct core groups of ingredients: 64, locally used in Mediterranean Europe during centuries; and 45, imported, used in pharmacy during centuries. Complexity reached its maximum in Albacete 1526 and contemporary pharmacopoeias, gradually decreasing over time. The analysis of medicinal uses of the top 10 ingredients showed low coincidence between Dioscorides and different Renaissance herbals or medical treatises and of all of them with ethnobotany in Albacete.

CONCLUSIONS

Regarding our question: is there something new under the sun? In some aspects, the answer is "No". The contrast between expensive drugs, highly valued medicines, and unappreciated local wild medicinal plants persists since the Salerno's school of medicine. Old medicine in Mediterranean Europe, as reflected by Albacete 1526 tariff of medicines, involved strict formulations and preferences for certain ingredients despite other ingredients locally available but underappreciated. This confirms the fact that any system of medicine does not get to use all available resources. Ethnobiological records of materia medica, in rural areas of Albacete, describe systems with a high degree of stability and resilience, where the use of local resources, largely wild but also cultivated, is predominant in contrast with the weight of imported exotic products in pharmacy.

Comparison of Herbarium Label Data and Published Medicinal Use: Herbaria as an Underutilized Source of Ethnobotanical Information

The use of herbarium specimens as vouchers to support ethnobotanical surveys is well established. However, herbaria may be underutilized resources for ethnobotanical research that depends on the analysis of large datasets compiled across multiple sites. Here, we compare two medicinal use datasets, one sourced from published papers and the other from online herbaria to determine whether herbarium and published data are comparable and to what extent herbarium specimens add new data and fill gaps in our knowledge of geographical extent of plant use. Using Brazilian legumes as a case study, we compiled 1400 use reports from 105 publications and 15 Brazilian herbaria. Of the 319 species in 107 genera with cited medicinal uses, 165 (51%) were recorded only in the literature and 55 (17%) only on herbarium labels. Mode of application, plant part used, or therapeutic use was less often documented by herbarium specimen labels (17% with information) than publications (70%). However, medicinal use of 21 of the 128 species known from only one report in the literature was substantiated from independently collected herbarium specimens, and 58 new therapeutic applications, 25 new plant parts, and 16 new modes of application were added for species known from the literature. Thus, when literature reports are few or information-poor, herbarium data can both validate and augment these reports. Herbarium data can also provide insights into the history and geographical extent of use that are not captured in publications.

An ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used in the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea

BACKGROUND

Rapid modernization in the East Sepik (ES) Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is resulting in a decrease in individuals knowledgeable in medicinal plant use. Here we report a synthesis and comparison of traditional medicinal plant use from four ethnically distinct locations in the ES Province and furthermore compare them to two other previous reports of traditional plant use from different provinces of PNG.

METHODS

This manuscript is based on an annotated combination of four Traditional Medicines (TM) survey reports generated by University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) trainees. The surveys utilized a questionnaire titled "Information sheet on traditional herbal preparations and medicinal plants of PNG", administered in the context of the TM survey project which is supported by WHO, US NIH and PNG governmental health care initiatives and funding. Regional and transregional comparison of medicinal plant utilization was facilitated by using existing plant databases: the UPNG TM Database and the PNG Plant Database (PNG Plants) using Bayesian statistical analysis.

RESULTS

Medicinal plant use between four distinct dialect study areas in the ES Province of PNG showed that only a small fraction of plants had shared use in each area, however usually utilizing different plant parts, being prepared differently and to treat different medical conditions. Several instances of previously unreported medicinal plants could be located. Medicinally under- and over-utilized plants were found both in the regional reports and in a transregional analysis, thus showing that these medicinal utilization frequencies differ between provinces.

CONCLUSIONS

Documentation of consistent plant use argues for efficacy and is particularly important since established and effective herbal medicinal interventions are sorely needed in the rural areas of PNG, and unfortunately clinical validation for the same is often lacking. Despite the existence of a large corpus of medical annotation of plants for PNG, previously unknown medical uses of plants can be uncovered. Furthermore, comparisons of medicinal plant utilization is possible if databases are reformatted for consistencies that allow comparisons. A concerted effort in building easily comparable databases could dramatically facilitate ethnopharmacological analysis of the existing plant diversity.

Plant selection for ethnobotanical uses on the Amalfi Coast (Southern Italy)

BACKGROUND

Many ethnobotanical studies have investigated selection criteria for medicinal and non-medicinal plants. In this paper we test several statistical methods using different ethnobotanical datasets in order to 1) define to which extent the nature of the datasets can affect the interpretation of results; 2) determine if the selection for different plant uses is based on phylogeny, or other selection criteria.

METHODS

We considered three different ethnobotanical datasets: two datasets of medicinal plants and a dataset of non-medicinal plants (handicraft production, domestic and agro-pastoral practices) and two floras of the Amalfi Coast. We performed residual analysis from linear regression, the binomial test and the Bayesian approach for calculating under-used and over-used plant families within ethnobotanical datasets. Percentages of agreement were calculated to compare the results of the analyses. We also analyzed the relationship between plant selection and phylogeny, chorology, life form and habitat using the chi-square test. Pearson's residuals for each of the significant chi-square analyses were examined for investigating alternative hypotheses of plant selection criteria.

RESULTS

The three statistical analysis methods differed within the same dataset, and between different datasets and floras, but with some similarities. In the two medicinal datasets, only Lamiaceae was identified in both floras as an over-used family by all three statistical methods. All statistical methods in one flora agreed that Malvaceae was over-used and Poaceae under-used, but this was not found to be consistent with results of the second flora in which one statistical result was non-significant. All other families had some discrepancy in significance across methods, or floras. Significant over- or under-use was observed in only a minority of cases. The chi-square analyses were significant for phylogeny, life form and habitat. Pearson's residuals indicated a non-random selection of woody species for non-medicinal uses and an under-use of plants of temperate forests for medicinal uses.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that selection criteria for plant uses (including medicinal) are not always based on phylogeny. The comparison of different statistical methods (regression, binomial and Bayesian) under different conditions led to the conclusion that the most conservative results are obtained using regression analysis.

The use of the local flora in Switzerland: a comparison of past and recent medicinal plant knowledge

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

This analysis of documented medicinal plants of the Swiss Flora over the last two millennia provides a rich source of knowledge on earlier uses of plants and use patterns of the local flora. We ask which local plant species were used during different time periods of the last 2000 years and how the numbers of species and the use intensity of specific plant families, growth forms and habitats changed over time.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Totally 25 herbals from the antiquity, monastic medicine, Renaissance, early modern era and the contemporary time as well as five recent ethnobotanical studies were considered. Use patterns were analysed with the Bayesian approach.

RESULTS

A total of 768 species, i.e. 32% of the vascular plants of the Swiss Flora have been documented as medicinal plants. Numbers increase until the monastic period (366 spp.) and the Renaissance (476) and remain relatively stable since then (modern and contemporary era: 477). But, 465 formerly documented species do not occur in the ethnobotanical studies and thus seem not to be used any more. Overall, 104 species are documented through all time periods. Archeophytes, trees and forest plants are generally overrepresented in herbals from all time periods while plants from above the timberline are generally underrepresented. Most widely used are the Lamiaceae and Apiaceae.

CONCLUSION

A constant body of medicinal plant knowledge in Switzerland exists since ancient time. This knowledge was always influenced by knowledge from neighboring countries and no "typical Swiss specialties" seem to exist. Medicinal plants are not randomly chosen from the available flora. Certain species are deliberately introduced others are neglected. This process, which is still ongoing, can be traced back with the help of herbals to the antiquity.

Traditional medicines and globalization: current and future perspectives in ethnopharmacology

The ethnopharmacological approach toward the understanding and appraisal of traditional and herbal medicines is characterized by the inclusions of the social as well as the natural sciences. Anthropological field-observations describing the local use of nature-derived medicines are the basis for ethnopharmacological enquiries. The multidisciplinary scientific validation of indigenous drugs is of relevance to modern societies at large and helps to sustain local health care practices. Especially with respect to therapies related to aging related, chronic and infectious diseases traditional medicines offer promising alternatives to biomedicine. Bioassays applied in ethnopharmacology represent the molecular characteristics and complexities of the disease or symptoms for which an indigenous drug is used in “traditional” medicine to variable depth and extent. One-dimensional in vitro approaches rarely cope with the complexity of human diseases and ignore the concept of polypharmacological synergies. The recent focus on holistic approaches and systems biology in medicinal plant research represents the trend toward the description and the understanding of complex multi-parameter systems. Ethnopharmacopoeias are non-static cultural constructs shaped by belief and knowledge systems. Intensified globalization and economic liberalism currently accelerates the interchange between local and global pharmacopoeias via international trade, television, the World Wide Web and print media. The increased infiltration of newly generated biomedical knowledge and introduction of “foreign” medicines into local pharmacopoeias leads to syncretic developments and generates a feedback loop. While modern and post-modern cultures and knowledge systems adapt and transform the global impact, they become more relevant for ethnopharmacology. Moreover, what is traditional, alternative or complementary medicine depends on the adopted historic-cultural perspective.

Spiritual and ceremonial plants in North America: an assessment of Moerman's ethnobotanical database comparing Residual, Binomial, Bayesian and Imprecise Dirichlet Model (IDM) analysis

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Ethnobotanical research and the study of plants used for rituals, ceremonies and to connect with the spirit world have led to the discovery of many novel psychoactive compounds such as nicotine, caffeine, and cocaine. In North America, spiritual and ceremonial uses of plants are well documented and can be accessed online via the University of Michigan's Native American Ethnobotany Database.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The objective of the study was to compare Residual, Bayesian, Binomial and Imprecise Dirichlet Model (IDM) analyses of ritual, ceremonial and spiritual plants in Moerman's ethnobotanical database and to identify genera that may be good candidates for the discovery of novel psychoactive compounds.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The database was queried with the following format "Family Name AND Ceremonial OR Spiritual" for 263 North American botanical families. Spiritual and ceremonial flora consisted of 86 families with 517 species belonging to 292 genera. Spiritual taxa were then grouped further into ceremonial medicines and items categories. Residual, Bayesian, Binomial and IDM analysis were performed to identify over and under-utilized families.

RESULTS

The 4 statistical approaches were in good agreement when identifying under-utilized families but large families (>393 species) were underemphasized by Binomial, Bayesian and IDM approaches for over-utilization. Residual, Binomial, and IDM analysis identified similar families as over-utilized in the medium (92-392 species) and small (<92 species) classes. The families Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Ericacea, Pinaceae and Salicaceae were identified as significantly over-utilized as ceremonial medicines in medium and large sized families. Analysis of genera within the Apiaceae and Asteraceae suggest that the genus Ligusticum and Artemisia are good candidates for facilitating the discovery of novel psychoactive compounds.

CONCLUSIONS

The 4 statistical approaches were not consistent in the selection of over-utilization of flora. Residual analysis revealed overall trends that were supported by Binomial analysis when separated into small, medium and large families. The Bayesian, Binomial and IDM approaches identified different genera as potentially important. Species belonging to the genus Artemisia and Ligusticum were most consistently identified and may be valuable in future studies of the ethnopharmacology.

Bioprospecting: evolutionary implications from a post-olmec pharmacopoeia and the relevance of widespread taxa

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

"Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution" The historical legacy and relevance of ethnopharmacology in drug discovery is undisputed. Here we connect the parameters influencing the selection of plant derived medicines by human culture with the concept of evolution.

AIM OF THE STUDY

In the present contribution we compare global data with local data and try to answer the questions, to what extent are the taxonomic clades included in indigenous pharmacopoeias associated with certain ailment groups, and to what extent can ecology and phylogeny, which we consider a proxy for chemical relatedness and convergence, account for the observed bias?

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We use an approximated chi-square test (χ(2)) to check for associations between 12 ethnomedical use-categories and 15 taxonomical clades. With cluster analyses we test for correlations between phylogeny and use-categories. We compare the 67 drug-productive families identified by Zhu et al. with the medicinal flora of the Popoluca and the APG database and compare our results with the phylogenetic target classes evidenced by Zhu et al. Furthermore, we compare the medicinal flora of the Popoluca with the world's weeds (cf. Holm et al.) and discuss our results in relation to anthropological rationales for plant selection.

RESULTS

The null-hypothesis "species from the 15 taxonomic clades are selected proportionally to their share in the treatment of the twelve organ- and symptom-defined use-categories" is rejected. The cluster dendrogram for the clades shows that the use patterns are to a certain extent associated with Angiosperm phylogeny. With the occurrence of 53 families the 67 drug-productive families are overrepresented in the regional flora of the Popoluca. The importance of these families in terms of their share is even more pronounced with the medicinal flora holding around 70% of all individual Popoluca informant responses.

CONCLUSIONS

The overall phylogenetic use pattern is influenced by both the inherent pharmacological properties, which depend on phylogeny, biogeography, ecology and ultimately allelopathy, and on culture-specific perception of organoleptic properties. The comparison of the 67 drug-productive Viridiplantae families with the ethnopharmacopoeia of the Popoluca and the APG database, shows that "traditional" pharmacopoeias and plant-derived drugs are obtained from widespread and species-rich taxa. This is not a function of family size alone. We put forward the theory that as a function of evolution, widespread taxa contain a broader range of accumulated ecological information and response encoded in their genes relative to locally occurring taxa. This information is expressed through the synthesis of allelochemicals with a wide ecological radius, showing broad-spectrum biota-specific interactions, including the targeting of proteins of mammals and primates.

Does the selection of medicinal plants by Brazilian local populations suffer taxonomic influence?

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The analysis of the influence of taxonomic affiliation on the selection of medicinal plants by Brazilian local populations can help elucidate theoretical aspects of medicinal plant selection.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Ethnobotanical medicinal plant studies were compiled and the resulting medicinal flora was compared to the total angiosperm flora with a Bayesian approach and the IDM model.

RESULTS

A total of 35 families were considered to be overused and six were classified as underused for the Bayesian approach. On the other hand, the IDM model considered 13 families as overused and five as underused (all of them were also highlighted by the Bayesian approach). A high overuse level of Bixaceae, Amaranthaceae, Anacardiaceae and Smilacaceae was recorded for both Bayesian and IDM model, while Orchidaceae, Melastomataceae, Eriocaulaceae, Poaceae and Bromeliaceae were considered as underused for both analyses. The most dissimilar body system in terms of family composition was 'mental and behavioral disorders'. It was also found that the body systems are different from one another in the proportion of taxonomic groups, which could indicate chemical specificity in the treatment of diseases.

CONCLUSIONS

Results indicate that the chemical specificity of taxonomic groups directly influences medicinal plant selection. Moreover, when data presented here are compared to other studies, there is clearly an overuse pattern for families like Lamiaceae, Rosaceae and Euphorbiaceae and an underuse pattern for Poaceae and Orchidaceae.

Case study of the Swiss flora for prior phytochemical and biological investigations

Estimates in the literature as to what extent the world's higher plant species have been studied chemically or for bioactivity are contradictory and range from 0.5% to >12%. In this survey, a model to make credible estimates of the extent of their study is proposed and is exemplified by applying it in a case study of plants native to Switzerland. Using a widely available database (SciFinder Scholar), 454 535 literature references for the 2677 native Swiss plant species were retrieved. It was determined that 55% of these species have been investigated phytochemically and 28% for biological activity. The influence of factors such as commonness, growth form, habitat, medicinal use, and reported toxicity on the extent to which different plant groups have been studied is analyzed. The predictive value of random sampling of subsets of plants is compared to the study of the entire Swiss flora, to show that a credible estimate of the extent of prior studies can be achieved with just 5% of these species.

An imprecise probability approach for the detection of over and underused taxonomic groups with the Campania (Italy) and the Sierra Popoluca (Mexico) medicinal flora

AIM OF THE STUDY

We use the IDM model to test for over- and underuse of plant taxa as source for medicine. In contrast to the Bayes approach, which only considers the uncertainty around the data of medicinal plant surveys, the IDM model also takes the uncertainty around the inventory of the flora into account, which is used for the comparison between medicinal and local floras.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Statistical analysis of the medicinal flora of Campania (Italy) and of the medicinal flora used by the Sierra Popoluca (Mexico) was performed with the IDM model and the Bayes approach. For Campania 423 medicinal plants and 2237 vascular plant species and for the Sierra Popoluca 605 medicinal plants and 2317 vascular plant species were considered.

RESULTS

The IDM model (s=4) indicates for Campania the Lamiaceae and Rosaceae as overused, and the Caryophyllaceae, Poaceae, and Orchidaceae as underused. Among the Popoluca the Asteraceae and Piperaceae turn out to be overused, while Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and Orchidaceae are underused. In comparison with the Bayes approach, the IDM approach indicates fewer families as over- or underused.

CONCLUSIONS

The IDM model leads to more conservative results compared to the Bayes approach. Only relatively few taxa are indicated as over- or underused. The larger the families (n(j)'s) are, the more similar do the results of the two approaches turn out. In contrast to the Bayes approach, small taxa with most or all species used as medicine (e.g., n(j)=2, x(j)=2) tend not to be indicated as overused with the IDM model.

Cross-cultural comparison of medicinal floras used against snakebites

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Envenomation causes an estimated 1.8-2.5 million incidences per year with a mortality level of 100-125,000 persons annually and more than 100,000 individuals suffer from severe complications, which may end in amputation of the attacked limb. The use of plants is a major part of the traditional practitioners' treatment of snakebites.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A database was created for plants used to treat snakebites worldwide. From this database, we selected five countries with a high number of entries and representing different cultures, geography and floristic zones: Brazil, Nicaragua, Nepal, China and South Africa. The datasets were analysed by regression and binominal analysis to see if any family or genus used against snakebites was overrepresented in the respective traditional medicinal systems relative to the abundance in the local flora. The families from the different geographical areas were compared to ascertain whether the same plant families are preferred by different peoples.

RESULTS

Three 'hot' families (Apocynaceae, Lamiaceae and Rubiaceae) were recovered in at least two of the five compared countries in the regression analyses and one 'hot' family (Zingiberaceae) was recovered in two of the compared countries in the binomial analyses. Four out of five floras possess families identified as outliers in both regression and binomial analyses. Eight families were recovered by both the binomial and the regression analysis (40-62% of all highlighted families respectively). At the genus level, only Piper (Piperaceae) was recovered as a 'hot' genus in at least two floras. Seven genera were highlighted by both analyses (25-44% of the highlighted genera).

CONCLUSIONS

Cross-cultural comparison of medicinal floras used against snakebites appears to be useful for highlighting candidate families and genera for further studies.

Knowledge of ethnoveterinary medicine in the Province of Granada, Andalusia, Spain

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

This paper constitutes an important contribution to the knowledge of biological resources used in ethnoveterinary practices (EVPs) in southern Europe, a territory with a clear lack of information on the subject.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To catalogue, analyze, and disseminate the knowledge of plant and animal use in ethnoveterinary practices in the province of Granada. Data have been analyzed to highlight the similarities between ethnoveterinary practices and human ethnopharmacology for the same study area.

METHODOLOGY

Information was gathered through open and semi-structured interviews with local people, mainly elderly shepherds and farmers, in the western part of the province. The primary data have been supplemented with information on EVPs from previous ethnobotanical works for the province. Data were gathered using the same field methods.

RESULTS

A total of 88 ethnoveterinary uses are documented for the treatment of 24 animal conditions. Of these, 82 uses involve 60 different plant species. Over three-quarters of these plants are also used for some human conditions in the same study area. Moreover, 6 animal species were catalogued for 6 other ethnoveterinary uses; four of these species were also used for similar conditions in humans. Ritual and health-prevention practices are also discussed.

CONCLUSIONS

EVPs in southern Spain involve a high number of species and conditions and are strongly linked to folk tradition (i.e. how local people understand certain conditions and their treatment, sometimes in a ritual manner). Unfortunately, some evidence of their slow disappearance has been found.