The rise of medicalization of plants in Brazil: A temporal perspective on vernacular names

Phytochemical and ethnomedicinal evidences of the use of Alternanthera brasiliana (L.) Kuntze against infectious diseases

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Popularly known as "penicilina" and "terramicina", Alternanthera brasiliana (L.) Kuntze belongs to the Amaranthaceae family and stands out for its ethnomedicinal uses in the treatment of infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms in some countries.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The present study aimed to carry out a literature review and analyze whether the scientific evidence really validates the numerous indications for the use of A. brasiliana in traditional medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases. Phytochemical and toxicological studies related to this species were also analyzed.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Scientific documents were retrieved from Google Scholar, PubMed®, ScienceDirect®, SciELO, SpringerLink®, Scopus®, and Web of Science™ databases. The literature was reviewed from the first report on the antimicrobial activity of A. brasiliana in 1994 until April 2024.

RESULTS

According to the scientific documents analyzed, it was observed that A. brasiliana is widely used as a natural antibiotic for the treatment of infectious diseases in Brazil, mainly in the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, and Minas Gerais. Its ethnomedicinal uses have also been reported in other countries such as Colombia and India. The leaves (78%) of A. brasiliana are the main parts used in the preparation of herbal medicines by traditional communities. Several A. brasiliana extracts showed low activity when evaluated against pathogens, including gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, parasitic protozoa, and fungi. Only two studies reported that extracts from this plant showed high activity against the herpes simplex virus, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and Candida albicans. Phytochemicals belonging to the classes of phenolic compounds and flavonoid (52%), saturated and unsaturated fatty acids (33%), steroids and phytosterols (8%), terpenoids (5%), and fatty alcohol esters (2%) were identified in A. brasiliana. Toxicity (in vivo) and cytotoxicity (in vitro) studies of polar and non-polar extracts obtained from A. brasiliana leaves indicated that this plant is biologically safe.

CONCLUSION

Despite being widely used as a natural antibiotic by traditional communities, scientific investigations related to the antimicrobial potential of A. brasiliana extracts have indicated inactivity against several pathogens.

Historical ethnobotanical review of medicinal plants used to treat children diseases in Romania (1860s-1970s)

BACKGROUND

Romanian ethnopediatrics has a long history of medicinal plant use. The main objective of the present review was to identify, collect, systematize, and prioritize the available bibliographical data related to medicinal plants traditionally used to treat various pediatric diseases in Romania during the 1860s-1970s.

METHODS

Information was mainly obtained by manual systematic search in various relevant historical works focused on the traditional use of medicinal plants in Romania (1860s-1970s), found in the Archives of Romanian Academy Library and National Romanian Library.

RESULTS

A total of 153 medicinal plants belonging to 52 families were identified as having ethnopediatric significance. The plant traditional indications, targeted body systems, parts used, and way of administration were provided. We have also proposed one index (expressed as percentage) in order to assess the ethnopediatric applicability area of species: ethnopediatric relative therapeutic versatility (ERTV), which was calculated on the basis of the number of distinct uses mentioned for a species. The species identified to have the highest ERTV scores were Dryopteris filix-mas (100%), Gratiola officinalis (85.71%), Allium sativum (71.42%), Eryngium planum (71.42%), Juglans regia (71.42%), Matricaria chamomilla (71.42%), Plantago major (71.42%).

CONCLUSIONS

The present study exposed for the first time to the international scientific community important ethnopediatric information contained in several local Romanian bibliographical resources that could guide the local and international researchers towards new directions of plant valorization.

Mercury: the beginnings in the medicalization of common names of medicinal plants in Brazil

Abstract Medicalization of common names of medicinal plants is a process that involves replacing popular native names by trademarked names of drugs, active principles or therapeutic indications used by modern biomedicine. In Brazil, this process seems to have been intensified in the early 2000s due to the increasing use of those names in ethnoscientific surveys in local communities. In this study, we aimed to trace the origins of that process. For this purpose, we reviewed data from the “grey literature” pre-1980, including 15 books, compendia, dictionaries, and guides of medicinal plants. Mercury and its lexical changes were the only medicalized names found in the literature before the 1980s. This is probably due to the ancient use of mercury in several medical systems through human history, including by Brazilian apothecaries since the seventeenth century. Moreover, Mercurochrome was the name of a Brazilian trademark of antiseptic that probably influenced the use of medicalized names of mercury in the past. The name “Mercury” and its “natural” epithet combinations, like “Mercúrio-vegetal” (Mercury-plant) and “Mercúrio-do-campo” (Field-mercury), could have been the original medicalized way of naming medicinal plants in Brazil.