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Phytochemical analysis of the Iranian plant Achillea wilhelmsii led to the isolation of 17 pure secondary metabolites belonging to the classes of sesquiterpenoids and phenolics. Two of these compounds, named wilhemsin (7) and wilhelmsolide (9), are new sesquiterpenoids, and the first shows undescribed structural features. Their structures were elucidated through extensive spectroscopic analysis, mainly based on 1D and 2D NMR, and chemical derivatization. Starting from plant traditional use and previous reports on the activity of the plant extracts, all the pure compounds were evaluated on endpoints related to the treatment of metabolic syndrome. The sesquiterpene hanphyllin (8) showed a selective cholesterol-lowering activity (−12.7% at 30 µM), santoflavone (13) stimulated glucose uptake via the GLUT transporter (+16.2% at 30 µM), while the trimethoxylated flavone salvigenin (14) showed a dual activity in decreasing lipid levels (−22.5% palmitic acid biosynthesis at 30 µM) and stimulating mitochondrial functionality (+15.4% at 30 µM). This study further confirms that, in addition to the antioxidants vitexin, isovitexin, and isoschaftoside, A. wilhelmsii extracts contain molecules that can act at different levels on the metabolic syndrome symptoms.

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Background: Menstrual pain is the most common pain and one of the main causes of referral to a doctor among young women. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) and Matricaria chamomile plants to treat menstrual pain. Methods: This double-blind randomized controlled trial study was performed on 50 female students of Kurdistan Medical Sciences residing in dormitory in 2018. Individuals were randomly divided into two groups of chmomile and yarrow using sealed envelopes. Twenty for people received 250 mg chamomile capsules every 8 hours and 26 people received 150 mg hydroalcoholic capsules of yarrow every 8 hours during the first three days of menstruation in two menstrual cycles. The data collection tool was a questionnaire and the severity of pain was assessed using visual analogue scale for the pain (VAS). Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of pain severity and duration of pain before taking the drug (p > 0.05). The average pain severity in the first menstrual cycle in the two groups decreased significantly (p< 0.05), which was more noticeable in the yarrow group. However, the average pain severity in the yarrow capsule group was lower than that of the chamomile capsule group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Both capsules of yarrow and chamomile reduce the severity of pain, but the yarrow capsule, with its long-lasting sedative effect, proved more helpful to reduce the severity of menstrual pain and could be effective in solving one of the issues among women.

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.

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