Efficacy of an Iranian herbal preparation (Lax-Asab) in treating functional constipation: A randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Ethnobotanical study on medicinal plants used by Bulang people in Yunnan, China

BACKGROUND

Despite the popularity of modern medicine, medicinal plants remain a cornerstone of treatment for numerous diseases, particularly among ethnic groups and tribal communities around the globe. Ethnomedicine offers advantages such as ease of use, convenience, and economic benefits. Medicinal plant knowledge within Bulang ethnic community of southwest China is a valuable complement to Chinese ethnomedicine systems. Accumulated medical knowledge is due to the extensive length of occupation by Bulang People, considered the earliest inhabitants of Xishuangbanna; this has resulted in the development of various traditional treatment methods with local characteristics and unique curative effects. Therefore, there is exceeding value in exploring the medical knowledge of Bulang.

METHODS

A total of 175 local informants participated in the interviews and distribution of questionnaires in 10 Bulang villages in Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province, China. We documented the community of Bulang's use of medicinal herbs, and we used both the informant consensus factor (ICF) and use value (UV) methodologies to analyze the data. Furthermore, we conducted a comparative study to explore the potential of Bulang traditional medicine by comparing it to traditional Dai medicine.

RESULTS

The study recorded 60 medicinal plant species belonging to 41 families and 59 genera, including 22 species of herb, 22 species of shrub, nine species of trees, and seven species of liana. Araceae, Compositae, Lamiaceae and Leguminosae were found to have the highest number of species. The affordability and cultural heritage of Bulang medicine make it advantageous, Investigated Informants report that increased usage of Western medicine (88%), less availability of herbal medicine (95.43%), and the reduction in medicinal plant resources (80.57%) pose significant threats to Bulang medicine. All Bulang medicinal plants are naturally grown, with only 22 per cent being cultivated. Camellia sinensis (0.94) and Zingiber officinale (0.89) showed the highest UV values, while the function of Phyllanthus emblica L. and Houttuynia cordata Thunb. were also noted. The ICF revealed digestive system related diseases were the most commonly treated, with conditions of the motor system using the highest number of plant species. Finally, a comparison with traditional Dai medicine determined that 22 plants (36.67%) of the 60 surveyed had higher medicinal value in Bulang medicine.

CONCLUSION

Bulang communities primarily source medicinal plants from the wild. Should environmental damage lead to the extinction of these medicinal plants, it could result in a shift toward modern Western medicine as a preferred medical treatment. Bulang ethnomedicine is a vital supplement to China's traditional medicine, particularly aspects of ethnic medicine relevant to daily life. Future research should emphasize inter-ethnic medical studies to reveal the untapped potential of medicinal plants.

Non-isoflavones Diet Incurred Metabolic Modifications Induced by Constipation in Rats via Targeting Gut Microbiota

Isoflavones, presenting in leguminous plants and the normal chow diet, are known to alter intestinal microbiota, yet their deficiency has not been widely studied for its effect on constipation in biochemical state of rats. Our previous study discovered the differences in pharmacokinetic traits of isoflavones from Semen sojae praeparatum fed with normal chow diet (ISO) and non-isoflavones diet (NISO). To gain insight into the key role of intestinal microbiota in constipation and metabolic differences caused by isoflavones deficiency, we observed a significant decrease in fecal pellet numbers, fecal water content, intestinal transit rate together with the serum concentrations of substance P (SP) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in NISO group, compared with those in the ISO group. Following 16S rRNA compositional sequencing, results excluded the changes in intestinal microbiota over time and highlighted that a total of 5 phyla and 21 genera changed significantly, among which Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Blautia, Prevotella, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium were closely related to constipation. In addition, Lactobacillus, produceing β-glucosidase which contribute to biotransform glycosides into aglycons and exert the bioactivities consequently, was decreased after non-isoflavones diet intake. Meanwhile, predicted metagenomics indicated that the pathway of glycan biosynthesis and metabolism was markedly down-regulated after non-isoflavones diet intake. Taken together, the findings suggested that the changes in the dietary components could alter the biochemical state of rats, which may be triggered by the abnormal modifications facilitated by β-glucosidase-producing bacteria. Our study shed a new strategy to explore the relationship among disease phenotypes (D), intestinal microbiota (I), enzymes (E) and traits of metabolism (T) named as "DIET," which can provide a reference for further study of the mechanism in regulation of intestinal bacteria-mediated diet on diseases.

Normative values for stool frequency and form using Rome III diagnostic criteria for functional constipation in adults: systematic review with meta-analysis

When designing clinical trials focused on functional constipation therapies, understanding the normative values of populations selected using the Rome III criteria is important for estimating baseline symptom severity, and for power analysis and sample size calculations. The objective of this review was to determine normative ranges for stool frequency and form in adults with functional constipation (Rome III criteria). Eligible studies reported stool frequency or form; random effects meta-analysis was performed with subgroup analyses to explore sources of heterogeneity. A total of 25 studies (43 groups, 2292 subjects) were included. Pooled estimates were 2.7 (95% CI 2.4-3.0) for weekly stools and 2.4 (95% CI 2.1-2.6) for stool form (Bristol scale). Heterogeneity was high for both outcomes (both I²=96%, P<0.001). Subgroup analysis revealed that weekly bowel movement frequency was higher in larger than in smaller studies (3.1 vs. 2.3, P<0.001) and in studies conducted in Europe compared with those in the Americas (3.1 vs. 2.2, P=0.02). For stool form, the use of a daily diary versus subject recall was the sole explanatory variable (2.5 vs. 2.1, P<0.05). We conclude that adults with functional constipation have significant variation in stool frequency and form, explained in part by geography and study design.