Maca (Lepidium meyenii Walp.) inhibits HIV-1 infection through the activity of thiadiazole alkaloids in viral integration.

Ethnopharmacology Relevance: Lepidium meyenii Walp. (maca) has been traditionally used for centuries in the Central Andes region both as food and as medicine. In the last decades, its fertility enhancer properties have gained importance, with the majority of the scientific literature related to this topic.

Dapivirine Bioadhesive Vaginal Tablets Based on Natural Polymers for the Prevention of Sexual Transmission of HIV.

Young sub-Saharan women are a group that is vulnerable to the sexual transmission of HIV. Pre-exposure prophylaxis through vaginal microbicides could provide them an option for self-protection. Dapivirine has been demonstrated to have topical inhibitory effects in HIV, and to provide protection against the sexual transmission of this virus.

Chitosan and Kappa-Carrageenan Vaginal Acyclovir Formulations for Prevention of Genital Herpes. In Vitro and Ex Vivo Evaluation.

Vaginal formulations for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections are currently gaining importance in drug development. Polysaccharides, such as chitosan and carrageenan, which have good binding capacity with mucosal tissues, are now included in vaginal delivery systems. Marine polymer-based vaginal mucoadhesive solid formulations have been developed for the controlled release of acyclovir, which may prevent the sexual transmission of the herpes simplex virus.

The artemisia L. Genus: a review of bioactive essential oils.

Numerous members of the Anthemideae tribe are important as cut flowers and ornamental crops, as well as being medicinal and aromatic plants, many of which produce essential oils used in folk and modern medicine and in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry. Essential oils generally have a broad spectrum of bioactivity, owing to the presence of several active ingredients that work through various modes of action. Due to their mode of extraction, mostly by distillation from aromatic plants, they contain a variety of volatile molecules such as terpenes, phenol-derived aromatic and aliphatic components.

Quinoline-based compounds as modulators of HIV transcription through NF-kappaB and Sp1 inhibition.

18 quinoline-based compounds were tested for antiviral properties against human immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV). The compounds tested here contain quinoline or tetrahydroquinoline rings and can be divided into two main groups: group 1 includes 4-(2-oxopyrrolidinyl-1)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines with 2-(3-nitrophenyl) substituent (N-series) or 2-(3-aminophenyl) moiety (H-series), and group 2 includes 2-(3-nitrophenyl)- or 2-(3-aminophenyl)-substituted quinolines (S-series). Two different antiviral assays were performed in order to test the anti-HIV activity of compounds: 3-(4,5-dimethyl-thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and recombinant virus assay (RVA).

An update on drug interactions with the herbal medicine Ginkgo biloba.

Medicinal plants are gaining in popularity due to the various advantages they offer, such as fewer side-effects, better patient compliance, relatively low cost and high accessibility as well as their high acceptability due to a long history of use. There is a widespread belief among the general public that herbal preparations are "good for humans" as they are "all natural". However, the increasing use of herbal medicinal products in the community where people are also receiving prescription medicines suggests that adverse herb-drug interactions may be have significant public health consequences.

Anti-infectious activity in the Cistaceae family in the Iberian Peninsula.

Infectious diseases caused by bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites are still a major threat to public health, despite the tremendous progress in human medicine. New antimicrobials are needed in medicine due to the rapid emergence of new resistant and opportunistic microbes and the increasing number of patients suffering from immunosuppressive situations, e.g.

Natural marine anti-inflammatory products.

The marine environment has been shown to be the source of a great diversity of chemical structures with promising biological activities. The isolation, biological evaluation, chemical properties and synthetic elaborations of the products of marine organisms and microorganisms have attracted the attention of organic chemists, medicinal chemists, biologists and pharmacists. Marine organisms and microorganisms have provided a large proportion of the natural anti-inflammatory products over the last years.

Inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase-2 expression by flavonoids isolated from Tanacetum microphyllum.

Plant flavonoids show anti-inflammatory activity both in vitro and in vivo. Some flavonoids have been reported previously to inhibit nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production by suppressing inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression. The present study focuses on the effect of various naturally occurring flavonoids (santin, ermanin, centaureidin and 5,3'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxy-7-methoxycarbonylflavonol) on modulation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced iNOS and COX-2 expression in RAW 264.

COX-2 and sPLA2 inhibitory activity of aqueous extract and polyphenols of Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove).

The aqueous extract of Rhizophora mangle bark and its polyphenolic fractions showed remarkable in vitro antiinflammatory activity in a preliminary study. The low molecular weight fraction exhibited cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitory activity while the total aqueous extract and the low molecular weight fraction showed secretory phospholipase A(2) inhibitory activity.

Phenylpropanoid glycosides from Scrophularia scorodonia: in vitro anti-inflammatory activity.

Five phenylpropanoid glycosides isolated from Scrophularia scorodonia L. (Scrophulariaceae), namely angoroside A (1), angoroside C (2), angoroside D (3), acteoside (4) and isoacteoside (5), had been evaluated as potential inhibitors of some macrophage functions involved in the inflammatory process. These compounds have been tested in two experimental systems: ionophore-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages and human platelets serve as source of COX-1 and 5-LOX, and mouse peritoneal macrophages stimulated with E.

Flavonoids and a sesquiterpene lactone from Tanacetum microphyllum inhibit anti-inflammatory mediators in LPS-stimulated mouse peritoneal macrophages.

In our ongoing research into anti-inflammatory compounds from Tanacetum microphyllum, four naturally occurring flavonoids (santin, ermanin, centaureidin and 5,3'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxy-7-methoxycarbonylflavonol) and one sesquiterpene lactone (hydroxyachillin) isolated from this plant, were evaluated as potential inhibitors of some macrophage functions involved in the inflammatory process. These five compounds significantly inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E (2) (PGE (2)) in a concentration-dependent manner. In the tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) assay, only centaureidin and hydroxyachillin significantly inhibited the accumulation of TNF-alpha.

Screening of South American plants against human immunodeficiency virus: preliminary fractionation of aqueous extract from Baccharis trinervis.

Ethanolic and aqueous extracts of 14 South American medicinal plants were tested for inhibitory activity on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Both extracts were relatively non-toxic to human lymphocytic MT-2 cells, but only the aqueous extract of Baccharis trinervis exhibited potent anti-HIV activity in an in vitro MTT assay. To delineate the extract-sensitive phase, some studies of the antiviral properties of the active extract are described in this paper.

Antiviral activity of seven iridoids, three saikosaponins and one phenylpropanoid glycoside extracted from Bupleurum rigidum and Scrophularia scorodonia.

As part of our screening of antiviral agents from medicinal plants, 11 compounds from plant origin (Bupleurum rigidum and Scrophularia scorodonia), three saikosaponins, seven iridoids and one phenylpropanoid glycoside were tested in vitro against herpes simplex type I (HSV-1), vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and poliovirus type 1. Five of these compounds showed antiviral activity against VSV. The percentages of cellular viability at the non-toxic limit concentrations of the active compounds were: verbascoside 53.