In this review, the composition, actions, and clinical applications of acemannan in medicine and its effectiveness as an adjunct in the treatment of diseases are presented. An electronic literature search was performed up to January 2014 for studies and research presenting data to validate the efficacy of acemannan. A total of 50 titles, abstracts and full-text studies were selected and reviewed. Acemannan has various medicinal properties like osteogenic, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial, which accelerate healing of lesions. Also, acemannan is known to have antiviral and antitumor activities in vivo through activation of immune responses. It was concluded that Aloe vera has immense potential as a therapeutic agent. Even though the plant is a promising herb with various clinical applications in medicine and dentistry, more clinical research needs to be undertaken to validate and explain the action of acemannan in healing, so that it can be established in the field of medicine and a more precise understanding of the biological activities of these is required to develop Aloe vera as a pharmaceutical source.

Infections caused by parasites in humans represent one of the main public health concerns. Amoebiasis, a parasitic infection caused by Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica), is considered endemic in Mexico, where Argemone mexicana (A. mexicana) has been used in traditional medicine to treat intestinal parasitic diseases. The objective of this work was to evaluate the potential biological activity of A. mexicana on E. histolytica. For this purpose, a methanolic extract was prepared from A. mexicana leaves, and a differential fractionation was carried out with solvents of different polarities. The inhibitory capacities of the extract and its fractions were evaluated in vitro using HM1-IMSS, a strain of Entamoeba histolytica. A. mexicana extract was found to have a growth-inhibiting activity for E. histolytica, showing IC50 = 78.39 μg/mL. The extract was characterized phytochemically, and the methanolic extract fractions were analyzed by liquid chromatography (HPLC) and mass spectrometry (MS). Berberine and jatrorrhizine were present in the active fractions, and these compounds may be responsible for the antiparasitic activity. The identification of amoebicidal activity of A. mexicana on E. histolytica gives support to the traditional use. Further studies with berberine and jatrorrhizine will be carried out to understand the mechanism involved.

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Infections caused by <i>Trichomonas vaginalis</i> in humans are one of the main public health problems caused by sexually transmitted diseases. Objective of this study was to evaluate potential biological activity of the medicinal plant <i>Argemone mexicana</i> (Mexican poppy) on <i>T. vaginalis</i>. Methanolic extracts of the stems and leaves of <i>A. mexicana</i>, and different fractions were prepared with solvents of different polarities. The extracts and functional groups were detected containing sterols, triterpenes, quinones, flavonoids and, alkaloids. Extracts from both the stems and leaves of <i>A. mexicana</i> inhibited the growth of <i>T. vaginalis</i> with half-maximal inhibitory concentration value of 70.6 and 67.2 μg/ml, respectively. In the active fractions, the most abundant compounds were berberine and jatrorrhizine, with presumed antiparasitic activity.

The aim of this work is to establish a sensitive and reliable method for the analysis of the 16 priority Environmental Protection Agency-defined polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in water samples. Gas chromatography (GC)-mass spectrometry (MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-fluorescence detection (FLD)-UV techniques are optimized to obtain an adequate resolution of all compounds. Validation of the methods is carried out, and a good performance is observed for both techniques. The HPLC-FLD-UV technique is somewhat more sensitive than the GC-MS technique for the determination of PAHs; thus, the HPLC-FLD-UV method is used to follow up both the solid-phase extraction (SPE) analysis using cartridges and discs and the liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), which are also evaluated for the extraction of the PAHs. Low recoveries between 43% and 79% are obtained using SPE cartridges, and higher values are obtained using SPE discs (56-96%) and LLE (60-105%). Better results are obtained using the LLE technique, and, thus, analysis of real water samples is carried out using this technique. LODs between 0.6 and 21 ng/L and relative standard deviations less than 15% are obtained using a spiked water sample analyzed using the full LLE HPLC-FLD-UV method.