Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of different Iranian populations of Anabasis aphylla L

The Anabasis aphylla L. aerial parts was harvested from five different populations located in Golestan National Park, Iran. The phenolic content and antioxidant potencies of the ethanolic extracts were measured using the Folin-Ciocalteu and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) methods, respectively. Moreover, the effects of two factors soil electrical conductivity and soil acidity on phenolic content and antioxidant properties of the extracts were evaluated. Consequently, no significant difference between different populations of Anabasis aphylla L. in terms of total phenol content was detected; however, a significant difference was observed between the electrical conductivity of the soil samples. The studied factors showed no significant correlation between the electrical conductivity and soil acidity with the total phenol and antioxidant effect, although a negative correlation between total phenol and IC50 (-0.81) was identified. In conclusion, the present study the effect of two factors of soil acidity and electrical conductivity on the amount of total phenol is not confirmed.

Ethnopharmacological studies of medicinal plants in central Zagros, Lorestan Province, Iran

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Lorestan Province (Iran) has a great diversity of habitats and plant diversity and the people living in this province have a good knowledge of herbal therapies.

AIM OF THE STUDY

In this study, the authors aimed to identify and report the medicinal plants used in the folk medicine of Lorestan.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The indigenous medicinal information was collected with a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire, interviews, and personal observations. The relative importance of the species were estimated through frequency of citations (FC).

RESULTS

and discussion: A total of 555 plants belonging to 91 families were identified. The plants belong to Asteraceae with 62 species followed by Lamiaceae (56), Apiaceae (44), Fabaceae (41), and Brassicaceae (31). The plants were mostly used as a decoction or eaten raw (32%). Leaves (22%) were the most utilized plant parts followed by shoots (16%), and seeds (13%). Thymus daenensis, Thymus eriocalyx, Mentha longifolia, Mentha spicata, Mentha piperitha, Alium sativum, Quercus infectoria, Quercus persica, Ziziphora clinopodioides, and Malus domestica had the highest FC values. Most of the plants were used for gastrointestinal, respiratory, and skin problems.

CONCLUSION

Lorestan is a region rich in medicinal plants. The local knowledge of herbal therapies can be used as complementary medicine, particularly by people in remote areas and as a guide for the future pharmacological and phytochemical studies. While the known medicinal plants can be harvested or cultivated for medical and pharmaceutical purposes, the less known plants with high FC scores can be investigated phytochemically and pharmacologically in the future studies.

Ethnobotanical knowledge of Astragalus spp.: The world's largest genus of vascular plants

OBJECTIVE

Astragalus L. (Fabaceae) is the largest genus of vascular plants in the world, that comprises an estimated number of 2900 annual and perennial species. The members of this genus have a broad spectrum of usages (e.g. medicine, food, fodder, fuel, ornamental plants, etc.). Here, we present a review of ethnobotanical applications of different species of Astragalus by various ethnic and cultural groupings worldwide, to provide an exhaustive database for future works.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Literature survey was performed using Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed, Medline, and Science Direct, and English and non-English reference books dealing with useful properties of the Astragalus species from 1937 to 2018. Consequently, we reviewed a total of 76 publications that supported lucrative information about various uses of this huge genus.

RESULTS

Several ethnobotanical uses of 90 Astragalus taxa were documented which were mainly originated from Asian and European countries. The two most frequently mentioned Astragalus treatments, were against urinary and respiratory diseases. The most commonly used part was gum and the most frequently used preparation method was decoction.

CONCLUSION

This review highlights that various Astragalus species have great traditional uses in different ethnobotanical practices throughout the world. However, there is still lack of phytochemical and pharmacological researches on many species of Astragalus and further studies are required to substantiate the therapeutic potential of them which will develop new generation of plant-derived drugs in the near future.

Ethnomedicinal uses of plants for the treatment of nervous disorders at the herbal markets of Bojnord, North Khorasan Province, Iran

OBJECTIVE

Since ancient times, plants have been commonly used to cure human ailments by indigenous people throughout the world. Nervous diseases are rising all around the world. This paper provides important ethnobotanical information on plants that are used against neurological disorders and are available in medicinal markets of Bojnord, northeastern Iran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This survey, as an ethnobotanical study, was carried out between 2017 and 2018. The identification of the intended plant species was done using the available Floras. Some important indices such as the frequency of citations, relative frequency of citation (RFC), family importance value and use report were calculated for the medicinal plants included in the present study.

RESULTS

The present study includes 58 medicinal plant species belonging to 36 families and reports their mentioning scientific and vernacular names, parts used, and preparation method. The most common family was Lamiaceae. The major parts of the identified plants used for treatment of nervous )neuropsychological( disorders were flower and aerial parts. The most common methods used for preparation of these plants were infusion and decoction. Stachys turcomanica, Tripleurospermum disciforme, Melissa officinalis, Nardostachys jatamansi, and Aloysia citriodora had the highest rate of use report. Echium amoenum and Melissa officinalis had the highest RFC.

CONCLUSION

The study indicated that although people in Bojnord have access to modern medicinal preparations, a considerable number of them still use medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes. Seemingly, most cited plants are worth more precise evaluations for their pharmacological activity.

Chemical components of the Ephedra major from Iran

Ephedra is a dioecious shrub that belongs to the Ephedraceae family of gymnosperms. Almost all commercial applications of Ephedra extracts are derived from the ephedrine alkaloids found in the evergreen stems. The purpose of this study was to compare chemical components (total alkaloid, ephedrine, total phenol, total flavonoid and tannin) of Ephedra major plants during May to October months. The seeds and stems were collected from Bojnoord altitudes in east of Iran. Total alkaloid was separated by solvent and soxhelet extraction method. The results revealed that solvent extraction method is more efficient than soxhelet extraction method. The measurement of chemical components showed significant difference during May to October months. Data from HPLC analysis revealed that while root is depleted of ephedrine, the ephedrine amount in stem organ ranged from 1.50 ± 0.15 to 2.12 ± 0.01 mg/g dry weight. The results indicate that E. major can be as a suitable source of ephedrine.

Investigation flora and life form of plants in protected region Sarigol (North Khorasan Province, Iran)

Apart Flora, life form and chorotype of plants in protected region Sarigol was investigated in this study. It's located at the 57 degrees 47' to 57 degrees 76' Eastern latitude and 37 degrees 55' to 37 degrees 80' Northern longitude. A part plant of this area was collected in this region by classical method of regional floristic studies. The results of field investigation were identification of 78 plant species belong to 66 genera and 25 families. Lamiaceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, Brassicaceae and Asteraceae were the most dominant families analysis of life form has shown proportion hemicryptophytes 39.74, followed by therophytes 21.79%, chamaephytes 19.23%, cryptophytes 11.53% and phanerophytes 7.69%. phytogeographical data has indicated that the most plants belong to the Irano-Turanian floral elements 75.64%.

Flora, life forms and chorotypes of plants of Salok protected area (North Khorassan Province Iran)

Salok protected Area is located in the 37 degrees 15' to 37 degrees 08' of the North latitude and 57 degrees 16' to 57 degrees 06' of East longitude, in West North Esfarayen in North khorassan province. In this research 52 families, 174 genera and 213 species were identified. The largest plant family is Asteraceae (34 species), Poaceae (18 species), Brassicaceae (17 species) and Fabaceae (17 species), respectively. Chief life forms are Hemicryptopytes (49.29%), Therophytes 23.47% and cryptophytes (12.67%). The most of plants chorotype with 62.91% is influenced by Irano-Touranina elements. Among 213 identified species of this region and 15 species endemic of Iran contain 0.87% of total endemic species of Iran's flora.

Multiple Mycobacterium antigens induce interferon-gamma production from sarcoidosis peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Studies of sarcoidosis immunology have noted oligoclonal T cell populations, suggesting cell-mediated immunity that is antigen-specific. Sarcoidosis immunology and pathology are most similar to mycobacterial infections. Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice and humans reflects T helper 1 (Th1) immune responses to multiple cell wall and secreted antigens. We investigated if the oligoclonal immune response in individual sarcoidosis subjects could be elicited by multiple secreted mycobacterial antigens by performing ex vivo enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT) on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 30 sarcoidosis, 26 purified protein derivative negative (PPD-) control and 10 latent tuberculosis subjects (PPD+) to assess Th1 responses to mycobacterial superoxide dismutase A (sodA), catalase-peroxidase (katG) and early secreted antigenic target protein (ESAT-6). A significant difference was noted among the sarcoidosis and PPD- control subjects to ESAT-6 [12 of 30 versus one of 26 (P = 0.0014)], katG [nine of 30 versus none of 26 (P = 0.002)] and sodA [12 of 30 versus none of 26 (P = 0.002)]. There was no significant difference between sarcoidosis and PPD+ subjects. Twelve sarcoidosis subjects recognized two or more mycobacterial proteins, as well as multiple distinct epitopes within individual proteins. One sarcoidosis subject on whom we collected bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid and PBMC had no recognition of mycobacterial antigens using PBMC, but BAL fluid demonstrated strong Th1 immune responses to ESAT-6 and katG. Individual sarcoidosis subjects recognized not only multiple mycobacterial proteins, but multiple distinct peptides within a specific protein, thus demonstrating that multiple mycobacterial epitopes elicit the Th1 immune response observed. Immune responses by sarcoidosis T cells to mycobacterial proteins may have an important role in sarcoidosis pathogenesis.