Pimpinella anisum (anise), belonging to Umbelliferae family, is an aromatic plant which has been used In Iranian traditional medicine (especially its fruits) as carminative, aromatic, disinfectant, and galactagogue. Because the wide traditional usage of Pimpinella anisum for treatment of diseases, in this review published scientific reports about the composition and pharmacological properties of this plant were collected with electronic literature search of GoogleScholar, PubMed, Sciencedirect, Scopus, and SID from 1970 to 2011. So far, different studies were performed on aniseeds and various properties such as antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, antioxidant, muscle relaxant, analgesic and anticonvulsant activity as well as different effects on gastrointestinal system have been reported of aniseeds. It can also reduce morphine dependence and has beneficial effects on dysmenorrhea and menopausal hot flashes in women. In diabetic patients, aniseeds showed hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effect and reduce lipid peroxidation. The most important compounds of aniseeds essential oil were trans-anetole, estragole, γ-hymachalen, para-anisaldehyde and methyl cavicol. Due to broad spectrum of pharmacological effects, and very few clinical studies of Pimpinella anisum, more clinical trials are recommended to evaluate the beneficial effects of this plant in human models and synthesis of new drugs from the active ingredients of this plant in future.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder which affects about 50 million people worldwide. Ineffectiveness of the drugs in some cases and the serious side effects and chronic toxicity of the antiepileptic drugs lead to use of herbal medicine as a form of complementary and alternative medicine. In this review modern evidences for the efficacy of antiepileptic medicinal plants in Traditional Iranian Medicine (TIM) will be discussed. For this purpose electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, Sciencedirect, and Google Scholar were searched for each of the antiepileptic plants during 1970-February 2013.Anticonvulsant effect of some of the medicinal plants mentioned in TIM like Anacyclus pyrethrum, Pimpinella anisum, Nigella sativa, and Ferula gummosa was studied with different models of seizure. Also for some of these plants like Nigella sativa or Piper longum the active constituent responsible for antiepileptic effect was isolated and studied. For some of the herbal medicine used in TIM such as Pistacia lentiscus gum (Mastaki), Bryonia alba (Fashra), Ferula persica (Sakbinaj), Ecballium elaterium (Ghesa-al Hemar), and Alpinia officinarum (Kholanjan) there is no or not enough studies to confirm their effectiveness in epilepsy. It is suggested that an evaluation of the effects of these plants on different epileptic models should be performed.

The high prevalence of diabetes mellitus and its complications, increase in usage of complementary therapies (especially herbal therapies), and need of developing countries for indigenous medical methods inspired us to introduce some plants in Iranian traditional medicine that are used in the treatment of diabetes. By studying the topic of "ziabetes" (the synonym of diabetes) mentioned in some Iranian traditional medical texts, we collected the text related to the anti-diabetic edible plants and identified their scientific names. Pub-med and Scopus databases were used to search the hypoglycemic effects of these medicinal herbs on laboratory animal or human. Many medicinal herbs and minerals in single or compound form have been used in Iranian traditional medicine. Plants such as Punica granatum, Rosa damascene, Plantago psyllium, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Coriandrum sativum, Portulaca oleracea, and Rumex patientia are the most popular among them. The hypoglycemic effects of some of these plants on laboratory animal or human have been presented from different published articles. The effects of some anti-diabetic plants used in Iranian traditional medicine were evaluated and their efficacies were mainly demonstrated on animals. However, we need more clinical trials to prove the safety and efficacy of these herbs on human.

Background: There are some factors such as age, stress and emotions that may lead to impaired learning, memory loss, amnesia, and dementia or threats like Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Traditional Iranian medicine (TIM) recommended some herbs and herbal preparations for treatment or prevention of CNS problems. In this study, the scientific evidences related to effectiveness of TIM herbal medicine on memory and learning will be reviewed. Materials and Methods:The scientific evidences of the plant efficacy were searched in electronic databases including Pub Med, Scopus, SID, Science Direct, and Google Scholar by keywords like memory, Alzheimer, amnesia, learning and scientific plant names from 1969 to 2014. Results: The finding of this study confirmed effectiveness of some of TIM medicinal plants on enhancing memory and learning or in treatment or prevention of amnesia and AD. Some of TIM plants like Melissa officinalis, Crocus sativus and Nigella sativa showed improving effect on memory in clinical trials. In some cases, the active principles responsible for efficacy of these plants on memory were also determined. Conclusion: Most of the studies on TIM plants were designed in animal models and a few herbs were evaluated in clinical trials on AD. Also, for some of the herbal medicine used in TIM, there are no or not enough studies to confirm their effectiveness on memory and learning. Therefore, further experimental and clinical studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of these plants on memory and AD and also to determine the active components of them.

Background: There are some factors such as age, stress and emotions that may lead to impaired learning, memory loss, amnesia, and dementia or threats like Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Traditional Iranian medicine (TIM) recommended some herbs and herbal preparations for treatment or prevention of CNS problems. In this study, the scientific evidences related to effectiveness of TIM herbal medicine on memory and learning will be reviewed. Materials and Methods: The scientific evidences of the plant efficacy were searched in electronic databases including Pub Med, Scopus, SID, Science Direct, and Google Scholar by keywords like memory, Alzheimer, amnesia, learning and scientific plant names from 1969 to 2014. Results: The finding of this study confirmed effectiveness of some of TIM medicinal plants on enhancing memory and learning or in treatment or prevention of amnesia and AD. Some of TIM plants like Melissa officinalis, Crocus sativus and Nigella sativa showed improving effect on memory in clinical trials. In some cases, the active principles responsible for efficacy of these plants on memory were also determined. Conclusion: Most of the studies on TIM plants were designed in animal models and a few herbs were evaluated in clinical trials on AD. Also, for some of the herbal medicine used in TIM, there are no or not enough studies to confirm their effectiveness on memory and learning. Therefore, further experimental and clinical studies are necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of these plants on memory and AD and also to determine the active components of them.