No abstract

Symphytum species belongs to the Boraginaceae family and have been used for centuries for bone breakages, sprains and rheumatism, liver problems, gastritis, ulcers, skin problems, joint pain and contusions, wounds, gout, hematomas and thrombophlebitis. Considering the innumerable potentialities of the Symphytum species and their widespread use in the world, it is extremely important to provide data compiling the available literature to identify the areas of intense research and the main gaps in order to design future studies. The present review aims at summarizing the main data on the therapeutic indications of the Symphytum species based on the current evidence, also emphasizing data on both the efficacy and adverse effects. The present review was carried out by consulting PubMed (Medline), Web of Science, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Database, Science Direct and Google Scholar (as a search engine) databases to retrieve the most updated articles on this topic. All articles were carefully analyzed by the authors to assess their strengths and weaknesses, and to select the most useful ones for the purpose of review, prioritizing articles published from 1956 to 2018. The pharmacological effects of the Symphytum species are attributed to several chemical compounds, among them allantoin, phenolic compounds, glycopeptides, polysaccharides and some toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Not less important to highlight are the risks associated with its use. In fact, there is increasing consumption of over-the-counter drugs, which when associated with conventional drugs can cause serious and even fatal adverse events. Although clinical trials sustain the folk topical application of Symphytum species in musculoskeletal and blunt injuries, with minor adverse effects, its antimicrobial potency was still poorly investigated. Further studies are needed to assess the antimicrobial spectrum of Symphytum species and to characterize the active molecules both in vitro and in vivo.

Malvaceae family is typical from the Mediterranean region, contains 240 genera and more than 4,200 species. They are most commonly used as ornamental plants, although they can also be conceived as a food resource and remedy for various diseases, such as digestive, respiratory, genitourinary, throat infections, and skeletal and skin disorders, as also injuries where they are profoundly applied for skin care and as antiseptic and demulcent. They also possess diuretic, lenitive, spasmolytic, and laxative effects, besides to be used as antidiarrheal. Thus, the present review provides in‐depth data on Malva spp. potential applications and phytochemical composition for food and pharmaceutical industries. Habitat and cultivation conditions and the clinical reports related to its biological effects are also emphasized. Malva spp. possess a wide variety of chemical constituents (such as polysaccharides, coumarins, flavonoids, polyphenols, vitamins, terpenes, and tannins) found in different plant organs, especially in leaves and flowers, connected to their biological activity. In general, Malva spp. have rather moderate antimicrobial activity, high antiinflammatory and wound healing activities, strong antioxidant activity, and anticancer properties. Results from in vitro and in vivo experiments encourage more in‐depth studies, namely clinical trials, towards to improve knowledge on the use of Malva spp. for the treatment of various health conditions in humans.

No abstract

Mushrooms have a significant role in human diet as functional food and as a nutraceutical resource. The combination of its umami flavor, protein, vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates has meant that mushrooms could be considered a cheap food source for a long time in many countries. Moreover, mushrooms contain an excellent variety of bioactive metabolites that can be successful in both prevention and treatment of various human health hazards. In addition, extracts from medicinal mushrooms and their metabolites have been verified for wound treating with contribution to different mechanisms of the healing process. This review summarizes the nutritional value and composition of mushrooms, ethnobiology and ethnopharmacology, and wound healing potential.

No abstract

Silymarin is a complex extract isolated from the plant Silybum marianum, widely known for its prominent antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects, although increasing evidences have reported extraordinary antiproliferative and apoptotic abilities. As a result, several signaling pathways involved in cell cycle control, cell proliferation, and cell death have been deconvoluted as critical mechanisms. In this regard, cyclin and cyclin‐dependent pathways have been the most studied ones. Following that, apoptotic pathways, such as p53, Akt, STAT‐3, Ras, and caspases pathways, have been extensively studied, although other mechanisms involved in inflammation and angiogenesis have also been highlighted as silymarin‐likely targets in cancer therapy. Therefore, the main challenge of this review is to discuss the diverse molecular mechanisms for silymarin antiproliferative and apoptotic effects; most of them largely studied in various types of cancers so far. Clinical trials and combination therapies related to silymarin application in cancer prevention and treatment are presented as well.

Annona squamosa is a medicinal plant with edible fruits and is commonly known as the sugar apple. This plant belongs to the Annonaceae family and has been used as a traditional medicine for many years with benefits for patients with various diseases. 1,2 However, there is little information regarding the medicinal basis of this plant and the action of its pods and seed oil. Recently, Adesanwo et al. 3 investigated the chemical constituents and anti-microbial activities of the fruits pods and seed oil extracts, as well as the antioxidant activity of seed oil. GC-MS analysis identified several potentially bioactive compounds, including numerous types of fatty acids and fatty acid esters. These results support previous observations regarding the presence of unsaturated fatty acids and acetogenins in seed oil. 4 Functional studies have also revealed that the purified fruit pod extracts and seed oil of A. squamosa exhibit broad-spectrum antibacterial properties. Interestingly, previous antibacterial activities previously reported from A. squamosa leave extracts on some bacterial strains. 5-7 In addition, the seed oil extracts of A. squamosa have been found to exhibit potent antioxidant activity, extending previous reports on seed, 8 leave, 5,9 and fruit pulp 10 extracts. Such novel findings may help in understanding the pharmacological actions of A. squamosa and potentially open a new direction for further investigations.Previous studies have shown that various chemical compounds, such as alkaloids, carbohydrates, tannins, phenolic compounds, isomeric hydroxyl ketones, cyclopeptides and acetogenins can be found in different parts of the A. squamosal plant. 11,12 GC-MS analysis of A. squamosa fruit pod extracts has recently shown that 9,10-dehydro-isolongifolene, androsterone and spathulenol are major compounds found in the plant. These results extend previous reports as spathulenol has been reported to be present in fruit pulp extracts and essential oil. 13,14 Furthermore, the determination of the chemical parameters of A. squamosa seed oil, including iodine, saponification, acid and peroxide values, as well as total phenol content is valuable for nutritional, industrial and medicinal utilization. In addition, the phenolic content of A. squamosa is associated with its anti-bacterial and antioxidant activity. 5,15 It is still unclear whether the human body can digest A. squamosa to generate such chemical molecules in vivo and which chemical components have beneficial biological effects in vivo. Therefore, further phytochemical evaluations of A. squamosa pods (including more polar fractions) and seed oil with different extraction and chromatography methods are necessary to identify specific compounds with potent biological activities. Given that natural products play a special role in pharmacotherapy, the findings from this work may help develop new medicinal therapies for clinical applications.