Context: Scrophularia genus (Scrophulariaceae) includes about 350 species commonly known as figwort. Many species of this genus grow wild in nature and have not been cultivated yet. However, some species are in danger of extinction. Objective: This paper reviews the chemical compounds, biological activities and the ethnopharmacology of some Scrophularia species. Materials and methods: All information was obtained through reported data on bibliographic database such as Scopus, United States National Agricultural Library, Biological Abstracts, EMBASE, PubMed, MedlinePlus, PubChem and Springer Link (1934–2017). The information in different Pharmacopoeias on this genus was also gathered from 1957 to 2007. Results: The structures of 204 compounds and their biological activity were presented in the manuscript: glycoside esters, iridoid glycosides and triterpenoids are the most common compounds in this genus. Among them, scropolioside like iridoids have shown potential for anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective and wound healing activity. Among the less frequently isolated compounds, resin glycosides such as crypthophilic acids have shown potent antiprotozoal and antimicrobial activities. Conclusion: The Scrophularia genus seems to be a rich source of iridoids and terpenoids, but isolation and identification of its alkaloids have been a neglected area of scientific study. The diverse chemical compounds and biological activities of this genus will motivate further investigation on Scrophularia genus as a source of new therapeutic medications.

Artemisia species (Asteraceae), widespread throughout the world, are a group of important medicinal plants. The extracts of two medicinal plants of this genus, Artemisia scoparia Waldst. & Kit. and A. spicigera C. Koch, were evaluated for potential antimalarial, free-radical-scavenging and insecticidal properties, using the heme biocrystallisation and inhibition assay, the DPPH assay and the contact toxicity bioassay using the pest Tribolium castaneum, respectively. The methanol extracts of both species showed strong free-radical-scavenging activity and the RC50 values were 0.0317 and 0.0458 mg/mL, respectively, for A. scoparia and A. spicigera. The dichloromethane extracts of both species displayed a moderate level of potential antimalarial activity providing IC50 at 0.778 and 0.999 mg/mL for A. scoparia and A. spicigera, respectively. Both species of Artemisia showed insecticidal properties. However, A. spicigera was more effective than A. scoparia.

Herbs have played a positive role in medicine for thousands of years. In the current study, we investigated the cytotoxicity effects of Scrophularia oxysepala methanolic subfractions and the underlying mechanism responsible for cell death in human breast carcinoma (MCF-7 cells) and mouse fibrosarcoma (WEHI-164 cells). From 60% and 80% methanolic fractions, four subfractions (Fa, Fb, Fc, and Fd), yielded from size exclusion by Sephadex-LH20 column chromatography, were chosen. MTT assay revealed that all subfractions significantly reduced cell viability after 24 h and 36 h in a dose-dependent manner; it is worth noting that Fa and Fb subfractions had the highest cytotoxicity, with IC50 values of 52.9 and 61.2 μg/mL in MCF-7 at 24 h, respectively. ELISA, TUNEL, and DNA fragmentation assay revealed that antiproliferative effects of all subfractions were associated with apoptosis on cancer cells, without any significant effect on L929 normal cells. qRT-PCR data showed that, after 24 h treatment with IC50 concentrations of the subfractions, caspase-3 expression was increased in cancer cells while the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased. S. oxysepala methanolic subfractions induce apoptosis in MCF-7 and WEHI-164 cells and could be considered as a source of natural anticancer agents.

In Persian nutrition culture, drinking aromatic waters (hydrosols, distillate) has a long history as functional beverages or therapeutic remedies. The co-distilled water with essential oils, which contains partial amounts of more water-soluble volatile compounds are diluted and used as beverages. Since the solubility of volatile components is different in water, the overall composition, and thus the biological activities of aromatic waters seem to be different from the essential oils they were co-distilled with. Despite the essential oils, chemical constituents of many aromatic waters have not been evaluated scientifically. This research investigated hydrosols used for mental and neurological health maintenance in Persian nutrition culture and their chemical constituents. Constitutions of these hydrosols were extracted by liquid/liquid extraction method and identified by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Furthermore, cluster analysis was used to evaluate the relevance of these hydrosols chemical constituents. About 93 compounds were identified from 20 aromatic waters. the major or second major constituents were thymol (azarol howthorn, frankincense, lemon balm, valerian, shadab), phenethyl alcohol (damask rose, dog-rose, starflower), carvacrol (basil, creeping buttercup, lemon balm); eugenol (shadab, dog-rose, starflower, basil), camphor (yarrow and wormwood), carvone (oriental plane), caryophyllene (cuminum), cinnamaldehyde (Chinese cinnamon), p-cymen-7-ol (musk willow), limonene (lemon verbena), linalool and α-terpineol (bitter orange), menthol (date palm) and methyl 5-vinylnicotinate (olive). Although, these hydrosols prepared from plants belong to different genus and families, but cluster analysis showed obvious similarities between their chemical constituents. Results of this investigation showed in many cases that the constituents of aromatic waters are different from the pure essential oil.

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The objective of this study was to identify the bioactive compounds of essential oil and evaluate the antibacterial activity of the essential oil extracted from Chenopodium album subsp. striatum against multidrug-resistant bacterial strains (MDR) which were isolated from clinical specimens by conventional methods. Furthermore, eight different Gram-negative and Gram-positive multidrug-resistant bacterial strains were used to investigate the antibacterial potential of the essential oil. The antibacterial activity was tested using MIC and MBC microdilution method, well and disc diffusion in different concentration. The hydro-distillation of aerial parts powder yield was 0.466% (v/w). Essential oil showed bactericidal activity against both MDR Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains. MIC and MBC results were ranged from 0.31 to 2.5 and 0.62 to 5.0 mg/mL. The inhibition zones in well-diffusion method were ranged from 7 ± 0.6 mm to 15 ± 1.0 mm. Disc diffusion method was ranged from 7 ± 0.0 mm to 16 ± 0.6 mm depending on the type of bacteria strain and essential oil concentration. Essential oil of Ch. album had the greatest potential to be considered as an antibacterial agent against MDR bacteria strain. This potential was due to different biological and bioactive compounds like phytol, linalool, α-terpineol and linolenic acid in the plant.

Background:Burns are common event and associated with a high incidence of death, disability, and high costs. Centella asiatica (L.) is a medicinal herb, commonly growing in humid areas in several tropical countries that improve wound healing. On the basis of previous studies, we compared the efficacy of Centiderm versus silver sulfadiazine (SSD) in partial thickness burning patients.Methods:Study population comprised burn victims referred to Velayat Burning Hospital at Rasht, Iran. The intervention group received Centiderm and control group SSD cream. Burn wounds were treated once daily at home. All of the wounds were evaluated till complete healing occurred and at the admission, days 3, 7, 14 objective signs; visual acuity score (VAS) and subjective signs were recorded. Re-epithelialization time and complete healing days were recorded. We used random fixed block for randomization. The randomization sequence was created using the computer. Patients and burning specialist physician were blinded.Results:Seventy-five patients randomized into 2 groups; (40 patients: Centiderm group; 35 patients: SSD group). The mean age of them was 30.67 ± 9.91 years and 19 of them were male (31.7%). Thirty patients in Centiderm and 30 patients in SSD group were analyzed. All of objective and subjective signs and mean of re-epithelialization and complete healing were significantly better in Centiderm group rather than SSD group (P < 0.05). There was no infection in Centiderm group.Conclusions:We showed that use of Centiderm ointment not only improved the objective and subjective signs in less than 3 days, but also the re-epithelialization and complete healing rather than SSD without any infection in the subjects.

Breast cancer is a prevalent malignancy among women, especially in developing countries. A large number of anticancer agents with herbal origins have been reported. Hence, herbals may play an essential role in prevention and treatment of cancers. We investigated cytotoxic effects of dichloromethane fractions of Scrophularia oxysepala extract on the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line. The cytotoxic activity of Scrophularia oxysepala fractions on the MCF-7 cells was assessed using Trypan Blue dye exclusion and MTT (3-(4, 5-dimetylthiazol-2-yl) -2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays. In addition, apoptosis induction was determined using TUNEL (terminal deoxy transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick- end labeling) assay and DNA fragmentation analysis. Quantitative Real-Time PCR was also used for analyzing the changes in Caspase-3, Caspase-9, and Bcl-2 genes' expression. Results revealed an effective inhibition of growth and viability in MCF-7 cells treated with dichloromethane fractions. Cell death assay and DNA fragmentation analysis using the TUNEL test confirmed the induction of apoptosis in the MCF-7 cell line. Further, the fractions have resulted in an increased expression of Caspase-3 and Caspase-9 mRNA, which highlights the possibility of apoptosis in the treatments. The expression study of Caspase-9 mRNA confirmed that, the fractions have triggered apoptosis via intrinsic mitochondrial pathway. In summary, fractions of Scrophularia oxysepala extract were found to be promising in growth inhibition and induction of apoptosis in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.