Molecular mechanism underlying anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic activities of phytochemicals: an update.

The resort worldwide to edible medicinal plants for medical care has increased significantly during the last few years. Currently, there is a renewed interest in the search for new phytochemicals that could be developed as useful anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic agents to reduce the risk of many diseases. The activation of nuclear transcription factor-kappa B (NF-κB) has now been linked to a variety of inflammatory diseases, while data from numerous studies underline the importance of phytochemicals in inhibiting the pathway that activates this transcription factor.

Phytochemicals to prevent inflammation and allergy.

Recently, much interest has been generated for a wide range of phyto-constituents with reports demonstrating their role in the modulation of inflammatory responses, including phenolics, alkaloids, and terpenoids. Natural products have long been, over the years, contributed to the development of modern therapeutic drugs. At present, steroids, antihistaminic drugs, suppressants or inhibitors of the release of mediators and the like have been used as anti-allergic agents.

Recent patents on topical application of honey in wound and burn management.

Topical application of honey to burn and wounds has been found to be effective in controlling infection and producing a clean granulating bed. It is suggested that the wound healing effect of honey may in part be related to the release of inflammatory cytokines from surrounding tissue cells, mainly monocytes and macrophages. It has been reported that honey hastens wound healing by accelerating wound contractions.

Synergistic effect of starch and royal jelly against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.

Objectives: To evaluate the synergistic action of starch on the antibacterial activity of royal jelly (RJ), a comparative method of adding RJ with and without starch to culture media was used.

Methods: Strains of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli have been used to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of a variety of freshly reaped RJ. In a second step, lower concentrations of RJ than the MIC were incubated with a set of concentrations of starch and then were added to media to determine the minimum synergistic inhibitory concentration.