The Public Perceptions on Wet Cupping Therapy (Hijama) in Saudi Arabia.

Background: : Wet cupping (Hijama), a form of alternative medicine, is widely practiced in Middle Eastern countries, especially Saudi Arabia. Although considerable effort has been put into increasing public awareness about the safe and proper practice of wet cupping, studies on the attitudes, knowledge, and awareness levels of the Saudi Arabian public are lacking.

Objectives: : This study evaluated public attitudes toward the effectiveness, safety, and expected standards of practicing wet cupping.

A new xanthone dimer and cytotoxicity from the stem bark of .

A phytochemical investigation of the stem bark of resulted in the isolation of a new xanthone dimer identified as biscaloxanthone (), together with four compounds; trapezifoliaxanthone (), trapezifolixanthone A (), taraxerone () and taraxerol (). The structures of these compounds were determined via spectroscopic methods of IR, UV, MS and NMR (1D and 2D). The cytotoxicity of compounds were screened against A549, MCF-7, C33A and 3T3L1 cell lines, wherein weak cytotoxic activities were observed (IC > 50 μm).

Prevalence of use and reported side effects of herbal medicine among adults in Saudi Arabia.

Objective: Despite the availability of well characterized and scientifically proven medicines, many people prefer the use of the less known herbal therapies that have no-scientific or evidence-based values as their first line of treatment. While this represents a growing worldwide issue, it is commonly practiced in developing countries including Saudi Arabia. Hence, the aim of the present study is to assess the prevalence of herbal medicine use, the most reported side effects and influencing factors in Saudi Arabia.

The phytochemical content and antimicrobial activities of Malaysian Calophyllum canum (stem bark).

Recently there was huge increase in using of 'herbal products'. These can be defined as plants, parts of plants or extracts from plants that are used for curing disease. However, Calophyllum species is a tropical plant and it has been used in traditional medicine, the limitation in safety and effectiveness information could lead to serious health problems.

Apoptosis, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of phytochemicals from Garcinia malaccensis Hk.f.

Objective: To study the chemical constituents of stembark of Garcinia malaccensis (G. malaccensis) together with apoptotic, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities.

Methods: Purification and structure elucidation were carried out by chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques, respectively.