Peptic ulcers are a common disorder of the entire gastrointestinal tract that occurs mainly in the stomach and the proximal duodenum. This disease is multifactorial and its treatment faces great difficulties due to the limited effectiveness and severe side effects of the currently available drugs. The use of natural products for the prevention and treatment of different pathologies is continuously expanding throughout the world. This is particularly true with regards to flavonoids, which represent a highly diverse class of secondary metabolites with potentially beneficial human health effects that is widely distributed in the plant kingdom and currently consumed in large amounts in the diet. They display several pharmacological properties in the gastroprotective area, acting as anti-secretory, cytoprotective and antioxidant agents. Besides their action as gastroprotectives, flavonoids also act in healing of gastric ulcers and additionally these polyphenolic compounds can be new alternatives for suppression or modulation of peptic ulcers associated with H. pylori. In this review, we have summarized the literature on ninety-five flavonoids with varying degrees of antiulcerogenic activity, confirming that flavonoids have a therapeutic potential for the more effective treatment of peptic ulcers.

Mucormycoses are emerging infections that have high rates of morbidity and mortality. They show high resistance to antifungal agents, and there is a limited therapeutic arsenal currently available, therefore, there is a great need to give priority to testing therapeutic agents for the treatment of mucormycosis. Along this line, the use of essential oils and phytoconstituents has been emphasized as a new therapeutic approach. The objective of this work was to investigate the antifungal activity of the essential oil (EO) of Thymus vulgaris, and its constituents thymol and p-cymene against Rhizopus oryzae, through microbiological screening, determination of minimal inhibitory concentration (MICs) and minimal fungicidal concentration (MFCs), effects on mycelial growth and germination of sporangiospores and interaction with ergosterol. The MIC of EO and thymol varied 128–512 µg/mL, but the MFC of EO and thymol varied 512–1024 µg/mL and 128–1024 µg/mL, respectively. The results also showed that EO and thymol significantly inhibited mycelial development and germination of sporangiospores. Investigation of the mechanism of antifungal action showed that EO and thymol interact with ergosterol. These data indicate that EO of T. vulgaris and thymol possess strong antifungal activity, which can be related to their interaction with ergosterol, supporting the possible use of these products in the treatment of mucormycosis.

This study confirms that geraniol and citronellol can be regarded as potential drugs for controlling T. rubrum growth, with great potential against agents of dermatophytosis.

RESUMO: "Avaliação da toxicidade e atividade antiulcerogênica do extrato etanólico das folhas de Maytenus obtusifolia Mart." Maytenus obtusifolia é utilizada na medicina popular para o tratamento de úlceras graves, infl amações gerais e câncer. Apesar da importância etnofarmacológica desta espécie, nenhum estudo foi realizado para avaliar a sua toxicidade e atividade antiulcerogênica. Neste estudo, nós avaliamos a toxicidade e propriedade antiulcera do extrato etanólico das folhas de Maytenus obtusifolia (MO-EtOH). O MO-EtOH (10-1000 g/mL) mostrou baixa toxicidade para as larvas de A. salina com CL 50 maior que 1000 g/mL. O MOEtOH (2000 mg/kg, p.o.) não alterou o peso corporal e peso dos órgãos dos camundongos, mas foi observado um aumento no consumo de água dos machos e uma diminuição do consumo alimentar das fêmeas. Durante o estudo não foram observadas mortes e nem alterações macroscópicas nos órgãos dos camundongos. 5, 125, 250 e 500 mg/kg) e lansoprazol (30 mg/kg) reduziram signifi cativamente o índice ulcerativo para 65,58 8,74, 43,00 9,53, 15,50 7,56, 54,75 8,88 ABSTRACT:Maytenus obtusifolia is used in folk medicine for the treatment of serious ulcers, general infl ammations and cancer. Despite of the ethnopharmacological importance of this species, no study was conducted to evaluate its toxicity and antiulcerogenic activity. In this study, we evaluated the toxicity and antiulcerogenic property of the ethanol extract of the leaves of Maytenus obtusifolia (MO-EtOH). The MO-EtOH (10-1000 g/mL) showed low toxicity for larvae of A. salina with LC 50 higher than 1000 g/mL. The MO-EtOH (2000 mg/kg, p.o.) did not change the body and organs weight of the mice, but it was observed an increase in the water consumption of males and a decrease in the food consumption of females. During the study no deaths and no macroscopic changes in the organs were observed in the mice. 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg) and lansoprazole (30 mg/kg) signifi cantly reduced the ulcerative index for 65.58 8.74, 43.00 9.53, 15.50 7.56, 54.75 8.88 and 36.13 9.55, respectively, in comparison with saline 82.13 12.48. In conclusion, the MO-EtOH showed low toxicity and antiulcerogenic activity, confi rming the popular use of M. obtusifolia.

The aim of this study was to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of carvacrol and to evaluate the antifungal activity of carvacrol when combinated with fluconazole, ketoconazole or amphotericin B against non-albicans Candida species. MICs were determined using microdilution method, and the combination study was conducted using the checkerboard method. The carvacrol MIC ranged between 128 and 512 μg/mL. The greatest antifungal activity was displayed with ketoconazole. Conversely, fluconazole displayed the lowest activity. Amphotericin B showed MICs ranging from 0.5 to 2 μg/mL. The best combinations were observed against Candida guilliermondii and Candida parapsilosis, which presented synergistic efects. Additive efect was observed in three combinations, whereas, indifferent interactions were seen in six combinations. No antagonistic effects were observed. Based on these results, we conclude that carvacrol retains high activity against non-albicans Candida strains, and the combinations between carvacrol and the antifungals tested yielded significant effects.