Current Traditional Medicine - Volume 4, Issue 2, 2018

This article, by foremost Russian specialists of phytotherapy, surveys traditional medicine and phytotherapy in Moscow from its medieval origins down to the present time. It confirms the scientific foundation and contemporary relevance of phytotherapy by focusing on the treatment of Psoriasis and complications of this disease with cocktails of botanicals that can be prepared at home as well as the application of commercial products made from botanicals. The botanicals sometimes are used alone or in conjunction with other therapies. Clinical studies and case studies cited confirm the effectiveness of phytotherapy for the treatment of Psoriasis. Bibliography provided in the text details research on the effectiveness of phytotherapy for treating other diseases and medical problems.

This article reviews the history of the study and use of herbal drugs— phytotherapy-- to treat cardiovascular diseases in the country of Belarus for the purpose of applying this information to combat cardiovascular disease on a broader scale. Some of the medicinal botanicals (motherwort, hawthorn, mistletoe, arnica, etc.) used empirically in the past are now used as effective contemporary medicines. Modern research methods and elements of evidence-based medicine allow us to hope for wider use of medicinal botanicals in medical practice today--specifically to treat cardiovascular diseases. Common Belorussian, Russian, and English names are provided for the many botanicals discussed, in addition to their official Latin names.

This article gives a short survey of the medicinal botanicals applied in the traditional medicine of the Veps, a small Finno-Ugric people, to treat severe respiratory infections— bronchitis, pneumonia, and tuberculosis of the lungs. Attention is focused on the methods of preparing the medicines, both simple and more complex medicinal forms. Veps' traditional healing (znakharstva) applies medicinal botanicals with charms or spells. Nevertheless, we emphasize the scientific foundation and the efficacy of Veps popular medicine, that uses rare, rather than common plants.

This is partially a review article and partially a research article. However, since the author is a practicing phytotherapist and not a laboratory scientist, she does not report on large trials and blind studies, proffer statistics, and use standard medical terminology. Instead, her article presents intimate case studies of her patients and the botanical remedies she uses to treat them. The efficacy of her treatment is proven by her patients' restoration to health. The author emphasizes that the persistence of phytotherapy in Traditional Medicine (narodnaia meditsina) is due to the fact that through correct application of botanicals, their many valuable properties and their ability to counter many diseases have been witnessed. In the arsenal of popular medicine even meager and infrequent use of botanicals documents their healing power. In some cases, they can even heal serious illnesses. On the other hand, the author cautions that self-treatment with botanicals is not advisable. It is absolutely obligatory that treatment with botanicals be performed by a physician or phytotherapist. The article focuses on the treatment of parasites. Common English and Russian terms for plants used in the recipes are cited along with Latin botanical names.

Flavonoids are the important class of phytochemicals, which are mainly present in the various parts of plant such as fruits, leaves, flowers and specially berries. In earlier days, flavonoids have been known for their antioxidant properties only. Among all flavonoids, quercetin and rutin are the most usable flavonoids reported. Day to day, their demand is increasing in the realm of pharmaceuticals, biotechnological and nutraceutical industries due to their significant features in healthcare applications. Some important plants such as apples, tea plant, onions, red grapes, citrus fruits, curly kale, leeks, broccoli, cherries, raspberry, cranberry, blueberry, tomatoes, soya and blackberries contain flavonoid in maximum quantification limits and are so called the best sources for them. Flavonoids containing two basic nuclei such as flavan and flavones, which are further categorized into flavones, flavonols, flavanones, flavan-3-ols, isoflavones and anthocyanidins. Rhamnazin' or 5,4'- dihydroxy-7,5'-dimethoxyflavonol is commonly found in Artemisia, Alnus, Betula, Aesculus and Rhamnus spp. Rhamnazin gained wider acceptance among bio-actives for healthcare benefits due to its antioxidant, antibacterial, antiangiogenic and anti-tumor properties. Furthermore, anti-infective and anti-proliferative properties are not much explored yet, which have attracted the attention of the researchers. Therefore, the present review extensively discussed the scientific aspects of ‘rhamnazin’ and its derivatives with respect to its medicinal uses, pharmacological activities, separation, isolation and various analytical techniques.

Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a devastating form of stroke associated with high morbidity and mortality. Numerous researches confirmed that the imbalance of iron homeostasis in perihematoma caused by haemoglobin-derived iron plays a major role in secondary brain damage, which is a key variable influencing the long-term prognosis following ICH. However, brain damage caused by iron is varied and complex, and its diagnosis and treatment have not yet formed a clear specification. This review summarizes and analyses the existing evidence on the imbalance of iron homeostasis and its mechanism of neurotoxicity, the expression of iron regulatory and transport proteins, current status of diagnosis and treatment, especially the intervention of Chinese Medicine. It comes to the conclusion that neurotoxicity of iron overload in ICH has become a subject of consensus. Iron regulatory and transport proteins play a key role in iron homeostasis, but some of the mechanisms are unclear, and there are no effective intervention measures. Chinese Medicine (CM) therapies including herbal medicine, acupuncture, and other non-medication therapies were confirmed effectively ameliorate iron homeostasis following ICH. However, the mechanism of its efficacy has not been fully elucidated. Therefore, further investigation including large sample and multicenter clinical trial and basic research are required.

Background and Objective: Cordia verbenacea DC (C. verbenacea) extract has been widely used in Brazilian traditional medicine to treat topical inflammatory processes and has shown healing activity. Moreover, the extract showed activity against coli and Staphylococcus aureus strains. Natural Rubber Latex (NRL) membrane has a potential to stimulate wound healing process, to accelerate healing of cutaneous chronic ulcers in humans, cellular adhesion and increase vascularization Recent studies have used the NRL for Drug Delivery Systems (DDS). In this work, it was developed an NRL membrane was developed containing C. verbenacea using NRL as a carrier and physical, chemical and biological characterization were performed to evaluate its potential as a system release of extract for DDS. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed no chemical interactions between the extract and NRL, which influence its mechanical behavior. C. verbenacea was adsorbed by the NRL membrane along all of its surface. Conclusion: Kinetic release profile showed that NRL membrane can release the extract for up to 18% during 80 hours and it obeys a bi-exponential function. In vitro cytotoxicity and hemolysis assay showed that the extract loaded NRL membrane presented no cell damage effects and no cytotoxicity at a concentration of 100-10%. The results showed that the NRL membrane is a potential and effective model of C. verbenacea release.