Planta medica
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In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in antibacterial honey for wound care ranging from minor abrasions and burns to leg ulcers and surgical wounds. On the other hand, several recent studies demonstrated that honey for human consumption was contaminated with natural occurring, plant derived pyrrolizidine alkaloids.1,2-Unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids are a group of secondary plant metabolites that show developmental, hepato-, and geno-toxicity as well as carcinogenic effects in animal models and in in vitro test systems. Hence, it was of particular interest to analyze the pyrrolizidine alkaloid content of medical honeys intended for wound care.19 different medical honey samples and/or batches were analyzed by applying a recently established pyrrolizidine alkaloid sum parameter method. 1,2-Unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids were converted into the common necin backbone structures and were analyzed and quantified by GC-MS in the selected ion monitoring mode. ⋯ The average pyrrolizidine alkaloid content of all positive samples was 83.6 µg retronecine equivalents/kg medical honey (average of all samples was 79.3 µg retronecine equivalents/kg medical honey). The limit of detection was 2.0 µg retronecine equivalents/kg medical honey, while the limit of quantification was 6.0 µg retronecine equivalents/kg medical honey (S/N > 7/1). Based on the data presented here and considering the fact that medical honeys can be applied to open wounds, it seems reasonable to discuss the monitoring of 1,2-unsaturated pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey intended for wound treatment.
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Capsaicin and 6-gingerol, pungent components of chilli pepper and ginger, are known as dietary agonists of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1. Transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 nerve fibers are recognized to play a role in gastric mucosal integrity in rats. In the present studies, we examined the acute effects of peroral administration of capsaicin and 6-gingerol on gastric acid secretion in conscious mice. ⋯ These results suggest that the combination of capsaicin and 6-gingerol has an additive effect on the inhibition of gastric acid secretion through activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1. In separate experiments, intraduodenal administration of either capsaicin (30 mg/kg) or 6-gingerol (15 mg/kg), whose doses were observed to have a significant inhibitory effect by oral administration, tended to inhibit basal acid secretion compared with the vehicle. These results suggest that the combination of capsaicin and 6-gingerol has an additive effect on inhibition of gastric acid secretion through activation of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1, and oral administration of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 agonists directly stimulates transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 in the gastric lumen, resulting in a potent reduction of gastric acid secretion.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Therapeutic effectiveness of Galphimia glauca vs. lorazepam in generalized anxiety disorder. A controlled 15-week clinical trial.
Galphimia glauca Cav. has demonstrated anxiolytic activity attributable to nor-seco-triterpenes denominated galphimines, the most active of which is galphimine-B. Galphimine-B inhibits ventral tegmental area dopaminergic neurons and interacts with the serotoninergic system of the dorsal hippocampus. A previous clinical study that administered a G. glauca herbal medicinal product for 4 weeks evidenced high percentages of therapeutic effectiveness and safety in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. Based on the previous findings, the goal of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of G. glauca herbal medicinal product administered during 15 weeks in patients with generalized anxiety disorder. ⋯ tolerability and safety. One hundred ninety-one patients initiated the study with 94 in the experimental group. One hundred four patients concluded the study, 51 of these in the experimental group. Anxiolytic effectiveness, measured as 0 in a negative case and as 1 in a positive case, was assessed 593 times in the experimental group and 631 in the control; the mean effectiveness observed was 0.686 ± 0.019 vs. 0.588 ± 0.019 (repeated-measures ANOVA; p = 0.0003). In the same way, G. glauca-herbal medicinal product diminished the score in the Hamilton anxiety scale to 11.51 ± 8.27 points and lorazepam to 12.40 ± 8.07 points (repeated-measures ANOVA; p = 0.05). The tolerability analysis, which comprised patients who concluded the treatment plus 11 patients who withdrew due to adverse reactions did not show differences between treatments (p = 0.35), nor did therapeutic safety demonstrate differences between groups (p = 0.21). There were no cases of tolerance, intoxication, dependence, or suppression syndrome. We concluded that G. glauca herbal medicinal product, standardized in 0.175 mg of galphimine-B and administered for 15 weeks to patients with generalized anxiety disorder, showed greater anxiolytic effectiveness than that obtained with lorazepam, with high percentages of therapeutic tolerability and safety.
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The European legislation on medicinal products also addresses the medicinal use of products originating from plants. The objective of the legislation is to ensure the future existence of such products and to consider particular characteristics when assessing quality, efficacy, and safety. Two categories are defined: i) herbal medicinal products can be granted a marketing authorisation; and ii) traditional herbal medicinal products can be granted a registration based on their longstanding use if they are complying with a set of provisions ensuring their safe use. ⋯ Meanwhile, approx. 100 monographs have been published, which define a current scientific and regulatory standard for efficacy and safety of herbal substances and herbal preparations used in medicinal products. This harmonised European standard will facilitate the availability and adequate use of traditional herbal medicinal products and herbal medicinal products within the European Union. Consequent labelling shall also enable patients and health care professionals to differentiate medicinal products from other product categories like cosmetics, food supplements, and medical devices.
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Our researches in recent years have shown that oxysophoridine (OSR), an alkaloid extracted from Siphocampylus verticillatus, presents antinociception through systemic and intracerebroventricular (icv) administration, and that OSR can also increase the GABA-immunopositive cells number in the central nervous system in rats. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the antinociception produced by OSR administered spinally, the interaction between OSR and GABAA receptor (GABAAR) agonists or antagonists on acute thermal nociceptive models (tail-flick test), and the possible alterations on the mRNA and protein expression of GABAAα1 receptors in the spinal cord. ICR mice were tested for their tail withdrawal response to thermal stimulation (tail-flick test). ⋯ OSR (0.25 mg/site, i. t.) can increase the expression of mRNA and protein of the GABAAα1 receptor in the spinal cord (L5-L6). The results reveal that i. t. administered OSR presents effective antinociception whose action is mainly located in the spinal cord. The antinociception of OSR results from the activation of the GABAA receptor and from the regulation of the GABAAα1 receptor-mediated neurotransmission.