Teucrium Polium Plant Extract Provokes Substantial Cytotoxicity at the Early Stage of Embryonic Development

Evaluation of Yield, Chemical Profile, and Antimicrobial Activity of Teucrium polium L. Essential Oil Used in Iranian Folk Medicine

Teucrium polium L. is used to treat many diseases like abdominal pains, indigestion, colds, and reproductive system diseases in Iranian folk medicine. This study was designed to investigate the yield, chemical profile of essential oil, and antibacterial and antifungal activity of this species. The flowering aerial parts of T. polium were collected from the Margh region of Kashan, Iran. The essential oil of the plant was extracted and separated using the Clevenger apparatus and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil against a variety of standard microbial strains was investigated with the Agar well-diffusion method and determination of the lowest growth inhibitory and lethal concentration (MIC and MBC). The results showed that the yield of T. polium essential oil (TPEO) was 0.5778%. Based on the results of GC-MS, 76 compounds (99.3%) were identified in the TPEO, of which α-pinene (9.67%), β-caryophyllene (8.07%), β-pinene (5.04%), nerolidol (4.94%), and oleic acid (4.57%) were the dominant components. The results of antimicrobial tests showed that the TPEO on Staphylococcus aureus created the largest zone of inhibition (~ 14.29 mm). The dominant inhibitory activity of this essential oil was against Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli (~ 9.00 mm), which was almost similar to rifampin (~ 11 mm). It seems that the predominance of terpenoid and acidic compounds of the essential oil is one of the possible factors of the anti-bacterial activity of this essential oil. Therefore, the TPEO may be a promising and potential strategy to inhibit some bacterial strains.

Alcoholic extracts of Teucrium polium exhibit remarkable anti-inflammatory activity: In vivo study

Teucrium polium (germander, Lamiaceae) is a local plant in Qatar that has been used in folk medicine to treat numerous illnesses. It is known for its antioxidant, analgesic, anticancer, and antibacterial activities. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of Teucrium polium (TP) extract by α-carrageen-induced paw edema in adult Sprague Dawley rats. The animals were randomly grouped into control, acute inflammation, and plant extract groups. Acute inflammation was induced by a sub-plantar injection of 100 µL of 1% α-carrageenan into the rat's right hind paw. Three different doses of the ethanolic extract of TP were tested at different time periods (1, 3, and 5 hours). All doses of the TP ethanolic extract showed significant inhibition of α-carrageenan-induced rat paw edema in a dose-dependent manner in both early and late phases of edema formation. The size of the α-carrageen induced paw edema was significantly reduced one, three, and five hours after TP extract injection compared to the acute inflammation group. This inhibition was accompanied by high expression of interleukin 10 (IL-10) and low expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α). The results indicated that the ethanolic extracts of TP possess significant anti-inflammatory and potential pharmaceutical properties.

The Effect of In Ovo Administration of Rosemary Essential Oil on Hatchability, Relative Hatching Weight, and Embryo Mortality Rate in Japanese Quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica)

This study aimed to determine the effects of air sac injection of rosemary essential oil at different concentrations in ovo in quail eggs on hatching rate, relative chick weight at hatching, and embryonic mortality rate. A total of 1060 Japanese quail eggs were divided into four groups: negative control (non-injected), positive control (30 µL sterile distilled water/egg), and two treated groups with 1 and 3 µL oil/egg, respectively. The concentration of 3 µL/egg showed a toxic effect on embryonic development, as revealed by the significantly (p = 0.015) higher post-injection mortality rate (18.21%) compared to 1 µL/egg with 8.3%. Furthermore, hatchability was significantly increased (p = 0.0001) with 1 µL/egg compared to 3 µL/egg with 69.1% and 44.48%, respectively. No significant difference was observed between the concentration of 1 µL/egg and the control groups (p = 0.822). Both l and 3 µL essential oil/egg significantly enhanced (p = 0.0001) relative chick weight at hatching by 67.14% and 70.32%, respectively, compared to the control groups. In conclusion, injecting eggs with 1 µL oil/egg showed positive effects both on hatching and relative chick weight. The concentration of 3 µL/egg was revealed to be toxic, with dramatic effects on embryonic survival.

Teucrium polium L: An updated review of phytochemicals and biological activities

OBJECTIVE

Medicinal plants and their components are potential novel sources for developing drugs against various diseases. Teucrium polium L. (syn Teucrium capitatum L. or felty germander) from the Lamiaceae family, is widely distributed in the dry and stony places of the hills and deserts of almost all Mediterranean countries, southwestern Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Based on traditional Iranian medicine (TIM), T. polium is used for treating many diseases, including abdominal pain, indigestion, and type 2 diabetes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In our previous review article published in 2012 and based on 100 articles published from 1970 to 2010, the main compounds purified from T. polium were terpenes, terpenoids, and flavonoids with antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, hepatoprotective, hypolipidemic, antibacterial, and antifungal activities.

RESULTS

In this article, the phytochemistry and pharmacological activities of the plant reported from 2011 to 2020 have been evaluated. Therefore, a search was done in the databases PubMed, Science Direct and Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science with the terms "T. polium," "T. capitatum." and felty germander', which included about 100 articles published since 2011 about T. polium pharmacological activities and isolated compounds. Most studies of this review focused on the antioxidant and antidiabetic effects of the plant.

CONCLUSION

Considering the position of T. polium in folk medicine, mainly as an antidiabetic agent, purification, structural and biological characterization of the active components appears essential for effective use of the plant.

Evaluation of Preclinical and Clinical Studies Published in Medical Journals of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Methodology Issues

INTRODUCTION

Results of preclinical and clinical studies in medicine could be trusted only if their design and statistical analysis were appropriate.

AIM

The aim of our study was to investigate whether preclinical and clinical studies published in medical journals of Bosnia and Herzegovina satisfy basic requirements for appropriate design and statistical interpretation of data.

METHODS

Preclinical and clinical studies published in medical journals of Bosnia and Herzegovina were retrieved from the PubMed database, and the sample for analysis was randomly chosen from the retrieved publications. Implementation rate of basic principles of experimental design (local control, randomization and replication) and rate of the most common errors in design of clinical/observational studies was established by careful reading of the sampled publications and their checking against predefined criteria.

RESULTS

Our study showed that only a minority of experimental preclinical studies had basic principles of design completely implemented (7%), while implementation rate of single aspects of appropriate experimental design varied from as low as 12% to as high as 77%. Only one of the clinical/observational studies had none of the errors searched for (2%), and specific errors rates varied from 10% to 89%. Average impact factor of the surveyed studies was around one, and average publication date recent, less than 5 years ago.

CONCLUSION

Prevalence of preclinical studies that did not follow completely basic principles of research design, and that of clinical/observational studies with errors are high, raising suspicion to validity of their results. If incorrect and not protected against bias, results of published studies may adversely influence future research.