Journal of ethnopharmacology
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Hydroalcoholic solutions of propolis, a resinous product produced by bees, have been currently employed in improving the cicatricial repair. Biological activity of propolis might be related to its antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and immunomudalatory properties. ⋯ The incorporation of hydroalcoholic extracts of Brazilian propolis improved the biological events associated to burn healing without toxic effects, but the red variety provided the best results. Therefore, these collagen-based containing natural apicultural products films may be considered a promising new dressing for wound occlusion and tissue repairing.
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Inflammation plays an important role in sepsis, and NF-κB is a key mediator of inflammation. Xuebijing (XBJ) injection is a traditional Chinese medicine injection that was widely used in the treatment of sepsis in China. However, the active constituents and mechanism responsible for its actions have not been investigated experimentally. ⋯ XBJ showed significant efficacy in the treatment of sepsis induced by CLP. Multiple targets of the different components were related to these anti-inflammatory effects, which contributed to the treatment of sepsis by XBJ in a clinical setting.
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Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) inhalation has been used in folk medicine for the treatment of anxiety, and clinical and animal studies have corroborated its anxiolytic effect, although its mechanism of action is still not fully understood. ⋯ These results indicate an important role for the serotonergic system in the anxiolytic-like effect of lavender essential oil.
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In the traditional context, herbs are often used as herbal whole system therapies, however, most clinical trials included highly selected patients and applied standardized treatment protocols with the aim to exclude as much bias as possible. These studies have contributed important information on the efficacy of herbal medicine extracts; however, their results are only marginally helpful to understand the value of herbal medicine and food items in a more traditional usual care context. ⋯ Multiple stakeholders, including ethnopharmacologists, should cooperate to identify relevant study questions as well share their knowledge to determine the optimal placement of a clinical trial in the efficacy-effectiveness-continuum.
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Perilla frutescens (Perilla leaf), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been used for centuries to treat various conditions including depression. A previous study of the authors demonstrated that essential oil of Perilla frutescens (EOPF) attenuated the depressive-like behavior in mice. ⋯ These results presented here show that BDNF is expressed depending on length of CUMS procedure and EOPF administration. And this study might contribute to the underlying reason for the slow onset of antidepressant activity in clinic.