Review on some plants of Indian traditional medicine with antioxidant activity.

http://siba.unipv.it/farmacia/art/Marrubini/Nat%20Prod%20Rep%202001.pdf

Tannins: Classification and Definition

The plants of the genus Phyllanthus (Euphorbiaceae) are widely distributed in most tropical and subtropical countries, and have long been used in folk medicine to treat kidney and urinary bladder disturbances, intestinal infections, diabetes, and hepatitis B. In recent years, the interest in the plants has increased considerably. Substantial progress on their chemistal and pharmacological properties, as well as a few clinical studies of some Phyllanthus species have been made. This review discusses the current knowledge of their chemistry, the in vitro and in vivo pharmacological, biochemical, and clinical studies carried out on the extracts, and the main active constituents isolated from different species of plants of the genus Phyllanthus. These studies carried out with the extracts and purified compounds from these plants support most of their reported uses in folk medicine as an antiviral, in the treatment of genitourinary disorders, and as antinociceptive agents. However, well-controlled, double-binding clinical trials are lacking. Several compounds including alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans, phenols, and terpenes were isolated from these plants and some of them interact with most key enzymes. Together this data strongly supports the view that the plants belonging to the genus Phyllanthus have potential beneficial therapeutic actions in the management of hepatitis B, nefrolitiase, and in painful disorders.

A review of the plants of the genus Phyllanthus: their chemistry, pharmacology, and therapeutic potential.

Pharmacognostic and pharmacological profile of Humulus Lupulus L.

Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Bail. is often referred to as an example of a medicinal plant with use in modern Chinese medicine. However, Schisandra chinensis first gained recognition as an adaptogen in the official medicine of the USSR in the early 1960s, principally as a result of the large number of pharmacological and clinical studies carried out by Russian scientists in the preceding two decades. Schizandra has now secured an established position within the medicine of Russia/USSR as evidenced by the inclusion of the drug in recent editions of the National Pharmacopoeia of the USSR and in the State Register of Drugs. Pharmacological studies on animals have shown that Schizandra increases physical working capacity and affords a stress-protective effect against a broad spectrum of harmful factors including heat shock, skin burn, cooling, frostbite, immobilisation, swimming under load in an atmosphere with decreased air pressure, aseptic inflammation, irradiation, and heavy metal intoxication. The phytoadaptogen exerts an effect on the central nervous, sympathetic, endocrine, immune, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal systems, on the development of experimental atherosclerosis, on blood sugar and acid-base balance, and on uterus myotonic activity. Studies on isolated organs, tissues, cells and enzymes have revealed that Schizandra preparations exhibit strong antioxidant activities and affect smooth muscles, arachidonic acid release, biosynthesis of leukotriene B(4) in leukocytes, platelet activating factor activity, carbohydrate-phosphorus metabolism, the formation of heat shock protein and polyamines, tissue respiration and oxygen consumption, and the tolerance of an organism to oxygen intoxication. In healthy subjects, Schizandra increases endurance and accuracy of movement, mental performance and working capacity, and generates alterations in the basal levels of nitric oxide and cortisol in blood and saliva with subsequent effects on the blood cells, vessels and CNS. Numerous clinical trials have demonstrated the efficiency of Schizandra in asthenia, neuralgic and psychiatric (neurosis, psychogenic depression, astheno-depressive states, schizophrenia and alcoholism) disorders, in impaired visual function, hypotension and cardiotonic disorders, in epidemic waves of influenza, in chronic sinusitis, otitis, neuritis and otosclerosis, in pneumonia, radioprotection of the fetoplacental system of pregnant women, allergic dermatitis, acute gastrointestinal diseases, gastric hyper- and hypo-secretion, chronic gastritis, stomach and duodenal ulcers, wound healing and trophic ulcers. This review describes the considerable diversity of pharmacological effects of Schisandra chinensis reported in numerous studies carried out in the former USSR and which have been confirmed over more than 40 years of use of the plant as an official medicinal remedy. Such knowledge can be applied in the expansion of the use of Schizandra in the pharmacotherapy of European and other countries as well as for the further discovery of new drugs based on the lignans that constitute the main secondary metabolites of this plant.

Pharmacology of Schisandra chinensis Bail an overview of Russian research and uses in medicine

Diterpene acids from Conyza incana

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a drug which contains a specific naturally occurring herbal medicine or its extract of which safety is confirmed as an active ingredient, inhibits the growth of Helicobacter pylori and is effective for prevention and treatment of gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers and the like. SOLUTION: This preventive and treatment agent contains hop or its extract having the inhibitory action on the proliferation of Helicobacter pylori as an active ingredient. The hop can be used in the form of the whole plant, strobile, hop pellet, hop extract or isolated hop extract which are used in beer brewing. In addition, the hop extract is fractionated to the α-acid and/or β-acid fraction and they are further fractionated and concentrated and the products can be used. The daily dose of this medicine is about 1 2,000mg/adult, particularly 10-1,000mg/adult. This agent can be orally given as it is or may be added to beverage and food and daily ingested.

Preventive and therapeutic agent for gastritis and gastric and duodenal ulcer

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED A burdock fruit extract containing arctigenin at high content and its production method are provided, and both of which are used for treatment of pancreatic cancer. SOLUTION The burdock fruit extract containing arctigenin at high content by enzymatically converted arctiin into arctigenin with beta-glucosidase, which is an enzyme occurring endogenously in a burdock fruit, and adding ethanol, extracting, concentrating and then freeze-drying or spray drying.

Burdock fruit extract containing arctigenin at high content and process for producing same

Processing of Nux Vomica. IV. : A Comparison of Cytotoxicity of Nine Alkaloids from Processed Seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica on Tumor Cell Lines

PURPOSE:To provide an antiviral agent containing galenical drugs. CONSTITUTION:This invented a antiviral agent characteristically contains one or more kinds of galenical drugs selected from Ainsliaea fragrans Champ, Alpinia officinarum Hance, Andropogon zizaniodes (L.) Urban, Areca catechu L., Artemisia princeps Pamp., Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC., Brainia insignis (Hook.) J. Sm., Brucea javanica (L.) Merr, Caesalpinia sappan L., Cassia fistula L., Chamaesyce hyssopifolia Small, Cinnamomum cassia Blume, Cinnamomum sintok Blume, Cytromium fortunei J. Sm., Drynaria fortunei (Kunze) J. Smith, Dryopteris crassirhizoma Nakai, Elaeocarpus grandiflorus Smith, Elephantopus scaber L., Erythroxylum lucidum H. Baill., Geranium thunbergii Sieb. et Zucc., Hamelia axillaris Swartz, Jatropha curcas L., Loranthus parasiticus (L.) Merr., Matteuccia struthiopteris (L.) Todaro, Mylabris sidae Fabr., Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, Parameria laevigata Moldenke, Perilla frutescens Britton var. acuta Kudo, Physalis angulata L., Plagiogyria matsumureana Makino, Quercus salicina Blume, Sarcandra glabra (Thunb.) Nakai, Serjania mexicana Seem., Sophora japonica L., Sophora subprostrata Chun et T. Chen, Strychnos nux-vomica L., Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. et Perry, Terminalia arjuna Wight et Arn., Terminalia belerica Roxb., Usnea misaminensis Vain., Waltheria indica L. Woodfordia floribunda Salisb., Woodwardia orientalis Sw., Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim., Zizyphus jujuba Miller var. inermis Rehder.

Shigetoshi Kadota

Papers

Diterpene acids from Conyza incana

Preventive and therapeutic agent for gastritis and gastric and duodenal ulcer

Burdock fruit extract containing arctigenin at high content and process for producing same

Processing of Nux Vomica. IV. : A Comparison of Cytotoxicity of Nine Alkaloids from Processed Seeds of Strychnos nux-vomica on Tumor Cell Lines

Galenical drug-containing antiviral agent