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Free radicals are constructed by natural physiological activities in the human cells as well as in the environment. They may be produced as a result of diet, smoking, exercise, inflammation, exposure to sunlight, air pollutants, stress, alcohol and drugs. Imbalanced redox status may lead to cellular oxidative stress, which can damage the cells of the body, resulting in an incidence of various diseases. If the endogenous antioxidants do not stop the production of reactive metabolites, they will be needed to bring about a balance in redox status. Natural antioxidants, for example plants, play an important part in this context. This paper seeks to report the available evidence about oxidative stress and the application of plants as antioxidant agents to fight free radicals in the human body. For this purpose, to better understand oxidative stress, the principles of free radical production, the role of free radicals in diseases, antioxidant defense mechanisms, and the role of herbs and diet in oxidative stress are discussed.

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Kidney disease is one of the most common health problems and kidney failure can be fatal. It is one of the health disorders associated with extreme pain and discomfort in patients. In developing countries, such as Morocco where socioeconomic and sanitary conditions are precarious, medicinal plants are considered the primary source of medication. In the present work an ethnobotanical survey was conducted in a remote area of North-Eastern Morocco and we focused on (1) establishing a record of medicinal plants used traditionally by local people to treat kidney diseases and (2) correlate the obtained ethnomedical use with well-studied pharmacological evidence. From February 2018 to January2020, information was gathered from 488 informants using semi-structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed using three quantitative indices: The use value (UV), family use value (FUV), and informant consensus factor (ICF). A total of 121 plant species belonging to 57 botanical families were identified to treat kidney diseases. The families most represented were Asteraceae (14 species), followed by Lamiaceae (12 species) and Apiaceae (10 species). The most commonly used plant parts were leaves, followed by the whole plant and they were most commonly prepared by decoction and infusion. The highest value of the (UV) index was attributed to Herniaria hirsuta L. (UV = 0.16), and the highest family use value (FUV) was assigned to Caryophyllaceae with (FUV = 0.163). Regarding the informant consensus factor (ICF), this index’s highest values were recorded for kidney stones (ICF = 0.72). The use of 45% of the selected plants were validated based on literature review. This study helped document and preserve crucial traditional plant knowledge of 121 plant species used to treat kidney problems that can be used in the search for new biologically active compounds through more upcoming pharmacological studies.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance. Haloxylon scoparium Pomel is a herbal medicine traditionally used for treating scorpions and snakebite, diabetes, and stomachache as well as several other diseases. No systematic study of the potential toxicity of the plant has been described. Aim of the Study. The current study is aimed at assessing the potential toxicity of Haloxylon scoparium Pomel through the acute and subacute toxicity tests. Materials and Methods. Acute toxicity test was performed on Swiss albino mice at a single oral dose of 1-10 g/kg for 14 consecutive days. General behavioral adverse effects, mortality, and latency of mortality were determined. In the subacute study, the Haloxylon scoparium Pomel extract was administered orally at doses of 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg daily for 30 days to Wistar rats. Body weight and selected biochemical and hematological parameters were determined at the end of the experiment. Sections of livers and kidneys were removed for histological studies. Results. Acute toxicity study showed that the oral LD50 value of Haloxylon scoparium Pomel extract was 5000 mg/kg. The subacute toxicity study of Haloxylon scoparium Pomel extract at doses 500, 1000, and 2000 mg/kg did not produce any observable symptoms of toxicity and no significant variation in body weight, organ weights, food, and water consumption or mortality in all treated rats. However, the administration of the Haloxylon scoparium Pomel extract to rats at 500 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg showed a significant decrease in platelets. Moreover, only at the highest dose (2000 mg/kg), the extract caused a significant increase in red blood cells and hemoglobin. Our results showed that subacute treatments with Haloxylon scoparium Pomel extract at doses of 1000 mg/kg and 2000 mg/kg significantly elevated alkaline phosphatase and triglycerides. Histological studies showed that the subacute treatments of rats with Haloxylon scoparium Pomel extracts, at the doses 1000 and 2000 mg/kg, induced some histopathological changes in the livers but a slight changing in kidneys. Conclusion. Our results indicated low acute toxicity of the aqueous extract of Haloxylon scoparium Pomel. Furthermore, daily oral administration of Haloxylon scoparium Pomel extract caused some damages to the livers of rats treated with high doses, expressed by an increase in some enzyme activities such as ALP. Regarding the renal function, we did not find remarkable toxicity in the subacute treatment with Haloxylon scoparium Pomel extracts at doses 1000 and 2000 mg/kg. However, further toxicity assessments should be done to ascertain the safety or the toxicity of this valuable plant species “Haloxylon scoparium pomel” in subchronic treatments.

Herbal medicine and its therapeutic applications are widely practiced in northeastern Morocco, and people are knowledgeable about it. Nonetheless, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding their safety. In this study, we reveal the toxic and potential toxic species used as medicines by people in northeastern Morocco in order to compile and document indigenous knowledge of those herbs. Structured and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, and simple random sampling was used as a sampling technique. Based on this information, species were collected, identified, and herbarium sheets were created. The collected data were analyzed using two quantitative indices: informant consensus factor (ICF) and fidelity level (Fl), as the degree of these indices give an insight into the level of toxicity of a given plant. The results revealed the knowledge of 55 species belonging to 36 families. The most represented families were Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Solanaceae, and Fabaceae. Furthermore, the majority of the species cited were herbs (67%), and the most common toxic parts were seeds, followed by leaves and roots. According to the informant consensus factor, death (0.81%) had the highest agreement, followed by the urological (0.76%) and skin (0.75%) categories. The most significant plants in terms of fidelity level were Solanum sodomaeum L. and Nerium oleander L. for death, Arisarum vulgare O. Targ. Tozz., Mentha spicata L., and Morus alba L. for the digestive category, Petroselinum crispum (Mill.) Fuss. and Citrus x aurantium L. for cardiovascular category, Urtica dioica L. for skin category, Datura stramonium L, and Ephedra altissima Desf. for neurological category, and finally Crocus sativus L. for general and unspecified category. This work highlights a valuable traditional knowledge of poisonous and potential poisonous plants in northeastern Morocco. Further phytochemical and toxicological research is needed to determine the safety of these prized herbs.

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