A Review of Botany and Pharmacological Effect and Chemical Composition of Echinophora Species Growing in Iran

Assessing the potential of fedaleh (Echinophora cinerea) essential oils as a natural herbicide for spring-summer crops

Large quantities of chemical herbicides are used in agroecosystems every year, which not only imposes a significant financial burden on farmers but also leads to environmental pollution. To address this challenge, the present study aimed to replace Treflan with Fedaleh essential oils (EO). Treflan is a commonly used chemical herbicide for spring-summer crops, and Chenopodium album has been chosen as a prevalent and abundant weed in many agricultural ecosystems. Four types of inhibitors, including Treflan herbicide and essential oils extracted from the leaf, stem, and flower of Fedaleh, were used in this experiment. These inhibitors were tested at five different concentrations: 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 μL/mL. Based on GC-MS results, the key compounds found in Fedaleh EO were α-pinene, α-phellandrene, γ-terpinene, linalool, sabinol, β-myrcene, neric acid, carvacrol, β-phellandrene, thymol, and spathulenol. A dose-dependent increase in hydrogen peroxide, malondialdehyde, electrolyte leakage, and proline content was observed with Fedaleh EO or Treflan. However, a decline in cell viability, germination, radicle length, radicle weight, plumule length, plumule weight, and seedling vigor index was observed in a dose-dependent manner with Fedaleh EO or Treflan. The weight of the radicle and plumule was noticeably decreased by 27 %, 28 %, and 14 %, 19 % respectively when treated with essential oils derived from the stem and flower of the Fedaleh, as compared to Treflan. Interestingly, at concentrations of 5 μL/mL EO, the germination, radicle length, plumule length, and seedling vigor index significantly decreased by 64-72 %, 56-56 %, 41-44 % and 90-93 % % as compared with control, respectively. The essential oils extracted from different parts of Fedaleh showed no significant difference in terms of hydrogen peroxide, electrolyte leakage, cell viability, and proline content, compared to Treflan (P > 0.05). Compared to the control, Treflan did not affect germination (P > 0.05), but the EO of Fedaleh's different parts significantly inhibited germination (P < 0.05). The growth inhibitors at a concentration of ≥1 μL/mL significantly reduced the length of the radicle and plumule in Chenopodium album. Overall, Fedaleh EO has significant potential as a growth inhibitor and oxidative stress inducer to prevent weed interference. This makes it a suitable option for the commercial production of a natural herbicide.

Genus Echinophora-Biological Activity, Chemical Composition, and Future Perspectives

Species belonging to the genus Echinophora (Apiaceae) have been used by humanity since ancient times as flavoring agents, preservatives, and medicines for the treatment of a broad spectrum of conditions, including respiratory, digestive and kidney disorders, fungi infections, wounds, and gastric ulcers. Phytochemical studies on this botanical genus mainly investigate the essential oil composition and reveal the species as a rich source of volatile compounds, including monoterpenes and phenylpropanoids. Among the non-volatile secondary metabolites, flavonoids, coumarins, phenolic acids, phytosterols, and polyacetylenes have been identified. Pharmacological studies revealed Echinophora extracts and essential oils exhibit different biological properties, including antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer, insecticidal, anti-inflammatory, and hepatoprotective activities. However, compared to other genera, the biological activity and chemical diversity of this genus are not well studied. In future decades, it is highly likely that the small genus Echinophora will play an important role in drug discovery and drug development.

Phytotherapy for Wound Healing: The Most Important Herbal Plants in Wound Healing Based on Iranian Ethnobotanical Documents

Wound healing is a process that starts with the inflammatory response after the occurrence of any damage. This process initiates by restoring the wound surface coating tissue, migrating fibroblasts to form the required collagen, forming a healing tissue and finally, leading to contortion and extraction of the wound. Today, various drugs are used to heal wounds. However, the drugs used to repair wounds have some defects and side effects. In spite of all attempts to accelerate wound healing definitely, no safe drug has been introduced for this purpose. Therefore, the necessity to identify herbal plants in ethnopharmacology and ethnobotany documents with healing effects is essential. In this article, we tried to review and present effective Iranian medicinal plants and herbal compounds used for wound healing. Searching was performed on databases, including ISI Web of Science, PubMed, PubMed Central, Scopus, ISC, SID, Magiran and some other databases. The keywords used included wound healing, skin treatment, medicinal plants, ethnobotany, and phytotherapy. In this regard, 139 medicinal plants effective on wound healing were identified based on ethnopharmacology and ethnobotanical sources of Iran. Plants such as Salvia officinalis, Echium amoenum, Verbascum spp., G1ycyrrhiza glabra, Medicago sativa, Mentha pulegium, Datura stramonium L., Alhagi spp., Aloe vera, Hypericum perforatum, Pistacia atlantica and Prosopis cineraria are the most important and useful medicinal plants used for wound healing in Iran. These native Iranian medicinal plants are rich in antioxidants and biological compounds and might be used for wound healing and preparation of new drugs.

Chemical, biological and in silico assessment of Ocimum viride essential oil

AIMS

Ocimum viride Willd. (family: Lamiaceae) is a member of the genus Ocimum, an aromatic annual and perennial herb with numerous culinary, horticultural and ethno-medicinal benefits. This study aims to explore the chemical properties of leaf essential oil (EO) from Ocimum viride and to evaluate its antimicrobial and anticancer potential.

MAIN METHODS

Characterization of essential oil was done by GCMS, antimicrobial by agar well diffusion methods, in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation by MTT assay, cell death analysis was done by DNA fragmentation, cell cycle analysis, nuclear morphology analysis and molecular docking studies were also conducted.

KEY FINDINGS

Essential oil from aerial parts (leaf) of Ocimum viride revealed high content of oxygenated monoterpenes, notably thymol (~50%) and γ-terpinene (~18%). Further, antibacterial analysis showed that among all the evaluated bacterial species EO showed highest sensitivity against the Bacillus subtilis and was also found most effective against HT-29 colon cancer cell line with IC50 value of ~0.034 ± 0.001μL/mL. Mechanistic studies revealed that EO inhibits the growth of HT-29 colon cancer cells probably through induction of irreparable DNA damage leading to subsequent cell death in apoptotic manner. Molecular docking analysis also supports the in vitro studies conducted by indicating the interaction of thymol with Sec A protein of Bacillus subtilis cell wall as well as with Beclin protein responsible for apoptotic corpse clearance.

SIGNIFICANCE

Taken together, our results indicate that EO possesses potent antimicrobial and anticancer properties, and may find applications as effective antibacterial and in cancer therapeutics.

Analgesic Medicinal Plants in Shahrekord, Southwest of Iran: An Ethnobotanical Study

Background:

Identification of indigenous medicinal plants, including the gathering of information regarding the uses of these plants can help find out their traditional pharmacological activities and their benefits for the community’s healthcare system. In this study, an ethnobotanical investigation was conducted in Shahrekord city, southwest of Iran to indicate the ethnobotanical knowledge about analgesic medicinal plants in the region and the methods of using them.

Materials and Methods:

To this end, plant antioxidants and analgesic medicinal plants were identified. For this purpose, a questionnaire was used to obtain indigenous knowledge from traditional therapists in Shahrekord regarding pain relief using medicinal plants. This ethnobotanical study was conducted in 2018 with the participation of 29 traditional therapists of the region under purpose. Finally, the data drawn from the questionnaires were analyzed using the Excel software. The frequency of plants use was also calculated.

Results:

Our study showed that in Shahrekord, 23 species of medicinal plants are used to relieve pain. The highest frequency of use was obtained for Eugenia caryophylata (44%), followed by Alhagi maurorum (31%), Tribulus terrestris (27%), and angustifolia (24%). The Laminaceae family (7 species) was the most frequently used plant family for pain relief. The most frequently used plant organ to relieve the pain was flower (25%), followed by the stem (22%) and leaves (19%).

Conclusion:

Given the high importance of medicinal plants in Shahrekord, the results of this study and additional scientific investigations can help produce more effective and less harmful drugs from medicinal plants.

TRPA1 Modulating C14 Polyacetylenes from the Iranian Endemic Plant Echinophora platyloba

Phytochemical investigation of the apolar extract obtained from aerial parts of the Iranian endemic plant Echinophora platyloba DC (Apiaceae) resulted in the characterization of the polyacetylene fraction of this plant. This resulted to be composed of the known echinophorins A and B, embedding the very rare α-pyrone terminal, and of the new echinophorin D (3), including also three conjugated triple bonds. The chemical structures of these compounds were secured by detailed inspection of MS and 1D/2D NMR spectra. The isolated polyacteylenes were evaluated for their modulation of six thermo-TRP channels and they revealed a selective activity on TRPA1, an ion channel involved in the mediation of neuropathic and inflammatory pain. This is the first report on the activity of plant polyacetylenes on transient receptor potential (TRP) channels.

A screening of growth inhibitory activity of Iranian medicinal plants on prostate cancer cell lines

BACKGROUND

Prostate cancer has been known as one of the most common malignancy in the men and it is therefore very important to prevent and treat this cancer. In this study, the anticancer effects of 20 species of medicinal plants in Iran, especially those grown in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, were investigated on prostate cancer cell lines to identify potential natural alternatives for the development of prostate cancer anticancer drugs.

METHODS

The plants were gathered from Chaharmahal va Bakhtyari and their aerial parts extracted through maceration method using ethanol 70%. Anti-proliferative activity of extracts on PC-3, DU145 and HDF cell lines was evaluated by MTT assay 48 hours after treatment.

RESULTS

Euphorbia szovitsii Fisch. & C.A.Mey. and Achillea wilhelmsii had anti-proliferative activity more than other plants on PC-3. Also IC50s for Urtica dioica, Euphorbia szovitsii Fisch. & C.A.Mey. and Medicago sativa were lower amount among the examined plants on Du-145.

CONCLUSION

According to our result, Euphorbia szovitsii Fisch. & C.A.Mey., U. dioica and Medicago sativa with good anti-proliferative activity can serve as an effective source of natural products to develop new antiprostate cancer drugs.