Therapeutic effects of Aloe spp. in traditional and modern medicine: A review.

Since ancient times, plants and herbal preparations have been used as medicine. Research carried out in the last few decades has verified several such claims. Aloe arborescens Miller, belonging to the Aloe genus (Family Asphodelaceae), is one of the main varieties of Aloe used worldwide. The popularity of the plant in traditional medicine for several ailments (antitumor, immunomodulatory, antiinflammatory, antiulcer, antimicrobial and antifungal activity) focused the investigator's interest on this plant. Most importantly, the reported studies have shown the plant effectiveness on various cancer types such as liver, colon, duodenal, skin, pancreatic, intestinal, lung and kidney types. These multiple biological actions make Aloe an important resource for developing new natural therapies. However, the biological activities of isolated compounds such as glycoprotein, polysaccharides, enzyme and phenolics were insufficient. Considering all these, this contribution provides a systematic review outlining the evidence on the biological efficacy of the plant including the pharmacology and the related mechanisms of action, with specific attention to the various safety precautions, and preclinical and clinical studies, indicating the future research prospects of this plant.

A Systemic Review on Aloe arborescens Pharmacological Profile: Biological Activities and Pilot Clinical Trials

Immune modulatory effects of Aloe arborescens extract on the piscine SAF-1 cell line.

Aloe arborescens Miller var. natalensis Berger (so called as “ALOE”) is traditionally valued herbal medicine for gastrointestinal complaints, skin injuries and burns. The different pharmacological and therapeutic activities of ALOE have been studied. ALOE extracts have been reported to show anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and antitumorigenic effects. In F344 rats, ALOE has been shown to have beneficial effects against colorectal tumorigenesis and formation of liver preneoplastic lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of oral intake of ALOE preparation (Aloe arborescens, honey and distillate) on liver health. For this purpose, we investigated the effect of oral ALOE supplementation on the splenic and hepatic cellular immune functions in mice and on dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) – induced liver fibrosis in rats. The studied immune parameters included the presence and cytokine production of different T-cell populations, including T-cell helper (CD4+) subpopulations (Th1, Th2, Th17 and Tregs), cytotoxic T-cells (CD8+) and Natural Killer T (NKT) cells as well as Natural Killer (NK) cells. The anti-fibrogenic potential of ALOE was evaluated based on hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) activation and apoptosis due to DMN treatment. The most evident immunological effect associated with ALOE supplementation was the reduced prevalence of splenic NKT cells (p=0.02). In addition, the treatment appeared to increase the total proportion of CD4+ cells among splenic T cells (p=0.03) and the interferon-g production by hepatic Th1 cells (p=0.06) tented to increase. In DMN-treated rats, the ALOE supplementation reduced the hepatic hydroxyproline content and a-SMA expression and improved the histopathology compared to controls. These results indicate that ALOE administration may have immunomodulatory effects and lower the fibrogenic process in the liver.

Mohamed El Zarka

Papers

Aloe arborescens preparation and liver health

Power Normalized Gammachirp Cepstral (PNGC) coefficients-based approach for robust speaker recognition