Pharmacological Study of Santolina chamaecyparissus. I. Acute Toxicity, Antiinflammatory and Antiulcer Activity

Medicinal plants used for neurological and mental disorders in Navarra and their validation from official sources

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

This paper provides important ethnopharmacological information on plants used in neurological and mental disorders in Navarra.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Information was collected using semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews with 667 informants in 265 locations. In order to confirm the pharmacological validation of the uses claimed by the informants, monographs from Official International Agencies (ESCOP, Commission E, WHO and EMA) were reviewed. A literature review was conducted focusing on the plants that were widely used but had no published monograph.

RESULTS

A total of 172 pharmaceutical uses were reported, for 46 plants and 26 families, mainly represented by Lamiaceae (15%), Asteraceae (13%), Rosaceae and Rutaceae (7%, each one), and Clusiaceae, Malvaceae, Papaveraceae and Urticaceae (4%, each one). The most frequently used parts were inflorescence (39%), flowered aerial parts (16%), and aerial parts (13%), followed by inflorescence bract (8%) and leaves (7%). Nine out of 46 plants (20%) and 81 of 172 uses (47%), have already been pharmacologically validated. The remaining 37 plants (of total 46, 80%) have been reported for neurological and mental disorders and need to be screened through standard pharmacological and clinical procedures for their activities. The most used species are Chamaemelum nobile (L.) All., Jasonia glutinosa (L.) DC., and Santolina chamaecyparissus L. ssp. squarrosa (DC.) Nyman, in all cases the administration as infusion.

CONCLUSIONS

Data indicate a high degree of plants knowledge in Navarra regarding neurological and mental disorders. The present study constitutes a good basis for further phytochemical and pharmacological research of C. nobile, J. glutinosa and S. chamaecyparissus, which could be of interest in the design of new inexpensive, effective and safe drugs.

Quali-quantitative analysis of best selling drugs from pharmacy, street market and traditional herbal medicine: a pilot study of market surveillance in Senegal

A pilot study of market surveillance in Senegal has been performed analyzing best selling drugs from an official pharmacy and a street market in two principal cities of Senegal and some traditional preparations from herbal medicine from the same market. A simple and rapid gas chromatography method with mass spectrometry detection has been applied after a liquid-liquid extraction of pharmaceutical products and traditional preparations at acidic, neutral and basic pH with chloroform-isopropanol (9:1, v/v). The assay was validated in the range from 10mg to 250 mg/g powder preparations with good determination coefficients (r(2)≥ 0.99) for the calibration curves. At three concentrations spanning the linear dynamic ranges of the calibration curves, mean recoveries of substances under investigation were always higher than 90% and intra-assay and inter-assay precision and accuracy were always better than 15%. The four best selling drugs purchased from a Dakar local pharmacy exactly contained the amount of active principles reported in the respective labels while the best selling drugs freely purchased from Kaolack market contained an amount of active ingredients lower than that declared on the label. No pharmacological active compound, but salicylic acid was found in one of the traditional herbal preparations. This pilot study showed that whereas official drugs sold in pharmacies at prices accessible for a very few portion of the population contained the amount of active principles as reported in the labels, those from street market bought by the majority of population contained an amount of active ingredients lower than that declared on the label and finally traditional herbal preparations seldom contain pharmacological active principles.

Pharmaceutical ethnobotany in the Middle Navarra (Iberian Peninsula)

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

This paper provides significant ethnobotanical information on pharmaceutical plant uses in the Middle Navarra (Iberian Peninsula). Collect, analyze and evaluate the ethnobotanical knowledge about medicinal plants in this area with 3622.2 km(2) and 404,634 inhabitants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed semi-structured interviews with 276 informants (mean age 72; 46% women, 54% men) in 111 locations, identified the plant reported and analyzed the results, comparing them with those from other territories.

RESULTS

The informants reported data on 198 medicinal plants belonging to 60 botanical families. This work is focused on human medicinal plant uses, which represent 98% of the pharmaceutical uses (1401 use reports). The species with the highest number of cites are Santolina chamaecyparissus ssp. squarrosa, Jasonia glutinosa and Chamaemelum nobile with a long tradition of use in Navarra. All different plant parts are used; aerial part is exploited more frequently than other plant parts. Most of the listed remedies use a single ingredient, typically soaked in water. The most common mode of administration is oral, while the second most common is topical.

CONCLUSIONS

The main ailments treated are digestive troubles, wounds and dermatological problems, and respiratory affections. Informants reported 80 new or scarcely cited uses for 14 medicinal plants. For 36% of the species (5) we have not found bibliographical references in the scientific literature and 64% (9) have only one to three references.