Pharmacognostical studies of the plant drug Mimosae tenuiflorae cortex.

The bark of the Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poiret (Leguminoseae) tree, known as tepescohuite in Mexico, is commonly used in this country and in Central America to elaborate different products for the treatment of skin burns and lesions. The cicatrizing properties of extracts obtained from this bark have been scientifically studied, attributing the main biological activity to its tannin and saponin content.

Effect of a Psidii guajavae folium extract in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized clinical trial.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of two different doses of a Psidii guajavae folium extract in the management of primary dysmenorrhea.

Methodology: A double-blinded randomized clinical trial was conducted in 197 women with primary dysmenorrhea. Four intervention groups were defined: two extract doses (3 and 6 mg/day); ibuprofen (1200 mg/day); placebo (3mg/day).

Therapeutic effectiveness of a Mimosa tenuiflora cortex extract in venous leg ulceration treatment.

The cortex of Mimosa tenuiflora is a popular remedy utilized in Mexico for the treatment of skin lesions. Modern studies support the existence in this cortex of compounds with cicatrizing properties. In the present study the therapeutic effectiveness of an extract elaborated with this bark in the treatment of venous leg ulceration disease was explored.

Effect of Gnaphalium conoideum HBK on guinea pig airway smooth muscle: role of L-type Ca2+ channels.

Plants from the Gnaphalium genus have been used in the Mexican traditional medicine for digestive and respiratory complaints. In the present study, the effect of methanolic extract from Gnaphalium conoideum HBK on the responses to contractile agonists was assessed in guinea pig tracheas, and the possible role of L-type Ca2+ channels was explored in tracheal guinea pig isolated myocytes. Cumulative concentration-response curves to carbachol or histamine, as well as contractile responses to 60 mM KCl were evaluated with or without 30 min preincubation with 20 or 100 microg ml(-1) Gnaphalium conoideum.

Effect of Ginkgo biloba extract EGb 761 on the nonspecific and humoral immune responses in a hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation model.

We evaluated the immune response of healthy control and stressed Wistar rats submitted to hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation. Rats were treated with Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) orally (100 mg/kg per day for 7 days). EGb 761 stimulated the digestion index of peritoneal and alveolar macrophages (PM and AM) of stressed rats.

Effect of Ginkgo biloba extract, EGb 761, on the cellular immune response in a hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activation model in the rat.

We evaluated the effects of Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) on the cellular immune response of rats with immunosuppression induced by activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Groups of five rats were subjected to chronic stress by the application of daily electric shocks (ES) over 7 days. This stress produced a significant decrement in the delayed-type hypersensitivity response (DTH) to dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB), and a decrease in the proliferation index of splenocytes.

Intestinal anti-spasmodic effect of a phytodrug of Psidium guajava folia in the treatment of acute diarrheic disease.

Ancestral medicinal use of guava (Psidium guajava L. Fam. Myrtaceae) is today supported by numerous biomedical studies concerning the properties of leaf extracts.

Comparative study of two Ginkgo biloba extracts on the phagocytic activity and DTH response of healthy mice.

The phagocytic activity and delayed-type Hypersensitivity (DTH) response to dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) of healthy BALB/c mice treated orally (100 mg/kg/day for 7 days) using two Ginkgo biloba extracts were studied. The phytopharmaceuticals Gb 30 (Alban Muller International, France) and EGb 761 (Schwabe, Germany) administered orally stimulated the phagocytic activity of peritoneal and alveolar macrophages. Likewise, the DTH response was found to be increased only with Gb 30 treatment.

Immunomodulatory activity of Chilean Cyttaria species in mice with L5178Y lymphoma.

The immunomodulatory effect of hydrosoluble extracts of four Chilean Cyttaria species (Discomycetes, Fungi) was assessed in mice with L5178Y lymphoma. Oral administration of 100 mg extract per day for 7 days enhanced the percentual phagocytosis and phagocytosis index in animals receiving Cyttaria berteroi, Cyttaria darwinii, Cyttaria espinosae and Cyttaria harioti extracts. Differences in the digestion index were observed in mice treated with C.

An experimental model of stress-induced immunosuppression produced by electrical stimulation of the brain in the rat.

The present paper reports a model of stress induction, based on electrical stimulation of the brain in normal Wistar rats. Stress-related stimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis produced a rise in circulating corticosterone levels that correlated significantly with the impairment of some immunological parameters, such as delayed hypersensitivity reactions to dinitrofluorobenzene and to sheep red blood cells, together with changes in splenocyte proliferation and phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophages. This experimentally elicited stress in the rat is proposed as a suitable model of immunosuppression that could be used for the evaluation of drugs with potential immunomodulatory properties.

Phenytoin and electric shock-induced apoptosis in rat peripheral blood lymphocytes.

The apoptotic index (AI) of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and plasma corticosterone (CS) levels were determined in Wistar rats treated with phenytoin (PHT) at therapeutic and toxic doses (100 or 200 mg/kg/day, respectively, over a period of 7 days) and stressed by bifrontal electric shock (60 Hz/40 mA/0.2 seg). The values of CS and AI were found to be significantly higher in rats submitted to electric shock (ES) and in rats treated with therapeutic and toxic doses of PHT plus ES, than in rats treated only with PHT (P<0.

Antimicrobial compounds detected in Bocconia arborea extracts by a direct bioautographic method.

Background: Among the numerous in vitro methods for studying the antimicrobial activity of plant drugs, bioautography has found widespread applications, especially for the detection of new compounds in complex plant extracts.

Methods: This paper describes the results obtained during the application of the bioautographic method to detect antimicrobial compounds in a chloroformic extract of leaves and stems of Bocconia arborea, a plant used profusely in traditional medicine for the treatment of diverse infectious diseases.

Results And Conclusions: The methods allows for the detection of spots of growth inhibition of cultures directly in the extract thin layer chromatographic plate previously dispersed with a broth culture containing the microorganisms.

Antimicrobial evaluation of some plants used in Mexican traditional medicine for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Twelve methanolic plant extracts from botanical species used in traditional medicine in Morelos, México to cure infectious diseases have been subjected to a screening study to detect potential antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans. The antimicrobial activity of the products was evaluated using colonies growing in solid medium, establishing the minimal concentration required to inhibit their in vitro growth (MIC). The results showed that extracts from Eucalyptus globolus Labill, Punica granatum L.

Archives of Medical Research: an historical and subject coverage overview.

A bibliometric study about the subject content of the articles published in the Mexican scientific journal Archives of Medical Research is reported. The journal, published by the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS), is comprised of 100 regular issues and 12 special supplements giving a total amount of 1,424 reports on medical research performed in Mexico during the last 25 years. According to the type of studies published during this period, we found that there is a similar percent of biomedical and clinical reports in the journal (47 and 42%, respectively) and a low proportion of epidemiological and medical educational reports (8 and 3%, respectively).

Survival of cultured plant cells grafted into the subcutaneous tissue of rats (preliminary report).

To evaluate the survival of plant tissue in an animal environment, cultured calli from a Mexican medicinal plant (Mimosa tenuiflora Poir.) were transplanted under sterile conditions into the subcutaneous tissue of rats. Microscopic studies of grafted areas were carried out at the 30th, 60th and 120th days after transplantation.

Calcium-antagonist effects of quercetin on aortic smooth muscle.

Relaxation induced by quercetin was studied on aortic rings depolarized with KCl and on Ca2+ dependent aortic contraction. Quercetin's actions as a cyclooxygenase inhibitor were compared with those of indomethacin. To determine the possible effects of quercetin on internal Ca2+ mobilization, it was assayed on aortic muscle contracted with caffeine.

Calcium-antagonist effect of quercetin and its relation with the spasmolytic properties of Psidium guajava L.

The antidiarrheal properties of water and methanolic extracts of Psidium guajava leaves have been demonstrated with anteriority and their spasmolytic effect was attributed to quercetin, a flavonoid contained in this plant. The present paper reports the intestinal smooth muscle relaxation produced by quercetin on isolated guinea pig ileum previously contracted by a depolarizing KCl solution. Quercetin also inhibited intestinal contraction induced by different concentrations of calcium, shifting the contraction curve to the right showing a clear calcium-antagonistic effect.

Quercetin glycosides in Psidium guajava L. leaves and determination of a spasmolytic principle.

The traditional herbal remedy from Psidium guajava leaves has been medically proposed in Mexico as effective treatment of acute diarrhea. A methanolic leaf extract was subjected to a bioassay-guided isolation of spasmolytic constituents. Six fractions were separated on a polyvinylpolypyrrolidine (PVPP) column using a water methanol-gradient.

Two decades of Mexican ethnobotany and research in plant drugs.

A renewed interest in the systematic study of indigenous medicines and associated medicinal plants arose in the 1970s. In Mexico the government established a national pharmaceutical industry to make use of the valuable colonial heritage of traditional practices combined with European medical concepts and resources. In 1975 the Mexican Institute for the Study of Medical Plants was created to integrate botanical, chemical and pharmacological studies on the Mexican flora.

Effect of Galphimia glauca methanolic extract on neuropharmacological tests.

Galphimia glauca Cav. (Malpighiaceae) is used in Mexican traditional medicine for the treatment of nervous excitement. A methanolic extract from its aerial parts (MEGA) was tested in several neuropharmacological animal models including among others: hypothermic activity, barbiturate potentiation, protection against strychnine- and leptazol-induced convulsions.

Solanum chrysotrichum (Schldl.) a plant used in Mexico for the treatment of skin mycosis.

An ethnobotanical field study carried out in 200 rural communities determined that the leaves of Solanum chrysotrichum Schldl. are used in Mexican traditional medicine for the treatment of skin mycosis, being particularly recommended to cure Tinae pedis. Clinical trials were performed using a cream containing 5% of a methanolic leaf extract of this plant.

[Effect produced by the alkaloid fraction of Mimosa tenuiflora (tepescohuite) on the peristaltic reflex of the guinea pig ileum].

An alkaloidal fraction was obtained from Mimosa tenuiflora (Willd.) Poir (tepescohuite) trunk bark. The product contained mainly an indolealkylamine and three minor alkaloids.